TRANSPORT

Fuel Cells: Hydrogen

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government (a) have invested and (b) plan to invest in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technologies.

Norman Baker: Since 2009 the Technology Strategy Board and co-funding partner the Department for Energy and Climate Change have invested in excess of £41m into fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. The Department for Energy and Climate Change's contribution has been nearly £10m. This represents projects with a total value, with the industrial contribution, of over £85m. In this financial year 2013-14 the Technology Strategy Board has plans to invest a further £4.5m into ongoing activity supporting fuel cell manufacturing and the supply chain and £5m into technologies specifically enabling the market for hydrogen. Fuel cells and hydrogen technologies are a part of the Technology Strategy Board's energy strategy and further investments into this area are anticipated during the current spending review period, to continue to support UK companies developing products for this growing global market.

Fuel Cells: Hydrogen

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what support and investment the Government have provided to the UK's first open access hydrogen refuelling station in Swindon.

Norman Baker: The UK's first open access hydrogen refuelling station in Swindon is a central part of a project awarded funding in July 2012 from the Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Energy and Climate Change. The project aims to supply green hydrogen to the refuelling station for multiple vehicle use and a significant part of the benefit of the project is the fact that it builds on the previous investment in this unique facility. The total cost of the project is £3.5m and it has been awarded a grant of £1.75m. It is one of five projects funded in a programme with a total value - including business contributions, of over £19m - with grant funding of £7.5m from the Technology Strategy Board and £1.5m from the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

West Coast Railway Line

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he intends to seek to secure the provision of free wi-fi for passengers in all classes of travel when negotiating the extended West Coast Main Line franchise.

Simon Burns: The decision relating to the provision of free wi-fi for passengers is a commercial matter for the train operator to consider and is not something that will be specified by the Department for Transport.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Vehicles

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the maximum capacity is of each of the current sites available to his Department for the receipt, inspection, repair and storage of military vehicles; what the current capacity is of each such site; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Cyprus

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of the cost of Operation Tosca is being claimed against the UK's Official Development Assistance Target.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence did not claim any costs for Operation Tosca against Official Development Assistance (ODA). Under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee ODA guidelines, this activity is not ODA eligible.
	Costs for Operation Tosca, which in financial year 2012-13 amounted to £17.706 million, are met from the Conflict Pool.

Defence Support Group

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Defence Support Group has been given the opportunity to submit an in-house bid for the purchase of the business it currently carries out for his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The purpose of the sale of Defence Support Group (DSG) is to raise a capital receipt through a privatisation enabling the business to diversify, grow and get access to investment.
	A privatised DSG will remove its dependence on the Ministry of Defence as its sole major customer, and at the same time give the front line the best opportunity to retain access to a DSG with the capacity and transformed capability needed to support the Armed Forces of the future. The opportunity is there for anyone to make a bid for DSG if they can satisfy the requirements for sale.

Defence Support Group

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to which Defence Support Group sites the military equipment project teams have been advised to cease sending equipment; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: No project teams have been advised to cease sending equipment to Defence Support Group sites.

Defence Support Group

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when any formal decision to close any Defence Support Group site was made; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by the then Secretary of State for Defence the right hon. Member for Coventry North East (Mr Ainsworth), on 29 March 2010, Official Report, column 79WS.
	This followed the conclusion of a formal consultation exercise with the trade unions on the proposal which began on 30 November 2009. No other DSG business transformation activity has resulted in site closures.

Defence Support Group

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what dividend has been paid by the Defence Support Group to his Department in each year since 2008; what savings have accrued in reduced costs and efficiencies in each such year; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The dividends returned from the Defence Support Group (DSG) from an almost entirely Ministry of Defence (MOD) revenue stream have been:
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 2008-09 5.2 
			 2009-10 4.5 
			 2010-11 2.3 
			 2011-12 4.5 
			 2012-13 7 
		
	
	It should be noted that, while a good indication of the DSG Trading Fund managing its business well, it is only at the moment MOD money circulating through one of its own business divisions.

Defence Support Group

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the business case developed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation for the redevelopment of each of the Defence Support Group sites; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: No business cases for the redevelopment of the Defence Support Group (DSG) sites have been produced. All of the sites are considered to be suitable for their current and future use. DSG disposal is part of asset receipts required of the Department.

Defence: Procurement

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what account his Department has taken of international traffic and arms regulations in reaching any decision to place contracts for the receipt, inspection, repair and storage of military vehicles and equipment within the private sector; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) invites all bidders to specify in their bid responses any non-UK export licence, authorisation or exemption that may be required in order to perform any resultant contract, or any other related transfer control.
	The MOD then considers what risks such controls, including the US International Traffic in arms regulations, may place upon the performance of the particular contract and what actions the bidder intends to take to mitigate such risks, before awarding any contract.

HMS Ambush

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what defect caused HMS Ambush to be towed back to HMNB Clyde during its recent sea trial;
	(2)  what maintenance occurred on HMS Ambush prior to its being towed back to HMNB Clyde during its recent sea trial.

Andrew Robathan: HMS Ambush recently completed a planned maintenance period at Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde. This was the submarine's first maintenance period since leaving Barrow, and provided the first opportunity to address various issues raised during the initial set of Platform Sea Trials.
	On sailing from HMNB Clyde on 10 April 2013, a problem with the lubricating oil system was identified. HMS Ambush returned alongside under her own power and remedial action was taken; she was not towed but accompanied by tugs, which is standard operating practice for any submarine entering or exiting HMNB Clyde.

RAF Cranwell

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of trends in the average running cost of RAF Cranwell since 2000; and whether any savings have been made over that period.

Andrew Robathan: Trends in the average running cost of RAF Cranwell are assessed annually as part of the Ministry of Defence budget setting process and in managing expenditure in year. These costs are influenced by a number of factors such as changes to the Royal Air Force recruiting and training requirement, inflation, equipment support costs and the renewal of multi activity contracts.
	Savings are made wherever possible, such as when contracts for the provision of services are renewed but these may be offset to some extent by the effects of inflation.

Royal Naval College

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many members of the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force currently undergo training at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of trends in the average running costs of Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth since 2000; and whether any savings have been made over that period.

Andrew Robathan: There are currently 280 Royal Navy personnel undergoing training at Britannia Royal Naval College. There are no Royal Air Force personnel.
	The running costs and efficiencies associated with Britannia Royal Naval College are reviewed annually as part of the financial planning and approvals process.

Storage

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which sites are currently available to his Department for the receipt, inspection, repair and storage of military vehicles; what the maintenance and improvement spend on each such site was in each year since 2003; whether a controlled humidity environment is available at each such site; whether there is access to a railway line at each such site; how many staff are employed at each such site; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what modifications will be needed at HMNB Clyde and RNAD Coulport to accept the successor submarine programme;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of adapting the ship lift facility at HMNB Clyde to accommodate the successor to the Vanguard class submarines.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently conducting a series of studies examining the infrastructure that will be required to support the successor submarines.
	Only when the studies have been completed, and the results analysed, will the MOD be in a position to determine what changes will be necessary to the infrastructure at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde, including the Royal Naval Armament Depot, Coulport and to estimate the cost of any such changes.

Trident Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the first Vanguard class submarine will come out of service; and when the first successor submarine will come into service.

Andrew Robathan: As outlined in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the first successor submarine is planned to enter service in 2028. Current Vanguard class submarines will undergo comprehensive life extension activities to ensure they are able to hand over with the successor class as they enter service.

Trident Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ballistic missile submarines will need to be fully operational during the transition from Vanguard class to its successor during the transition period between classes.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence will ensure that there will be sufficient numbers of submarines during transition to maintain our current posture of continuous at sea deterrence.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times (a) British forces have flown US unmanned aerial vehicles and (b) US forces have flown British unmanned aerial vehicles in the latest period for which figures are available.

Andrew Robathan: The information will take time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available. UK Forces have only ever flown US unmanned aerial vehicles outside Afghanistan, during Operation Ellamy in Libya.
	Substantive answer from Andrew Robathan to Rehman Chishti:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 29 November 2012 (Official Report, column 461W) about Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). I apologise that it has taken so long to reply.
	I should point out that my answer contained an error in the final sentence that I would like to take this opportunity to correct. My answer stated that UK Forces had only ever flown US unmanned aerial vehicles outside Afghanistan during Operation Ellamy in Libya.
	The answer should have said that UK personnel embedded with the US Air Force have only flown US RPAS in support of operations in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq.
	I have asked for the Official Record to be corrected.
	Between October 2006 and 31 December 2012, UK aircrew had flown approximately 2,150 operational missions using US REAPER and PREDATOR RPAS in support of operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
	UK and US personnel also operate both nation's RPAS as part of the launch and recovery phase in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, information on the number of occasions they have done so is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Information about operations in Iraq is also not held centrally.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2012, Official Report, column 461W, on unmanned air vehicles, when he expects to write to the hon. Member for Gillingham and Rainham.

Andrew Robathan: I answered my hon. Friend today.

USA

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) representations and (b) communications he and his Department have made to the US Navy on delays in the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine replacement programme and its effect on the successor programme.

Andrew Robathan: We have regular discussions with the US on a range of issues, including on the successor programme. The planned in-service date for the successor submarine programme has not been affected.

WALES

Electricity

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will evaluate the potential benefits of amalgamating the electricity grids of North, Mid and South Wales to form a unified Welsh power grid.

Stephen Crabb: The design and operation of the electricity networks is a matter for the network companies and Ofgem, as the independent regulator.

Hotels

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in his Department stayed in hotels in (a) the UK and (b) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year.

Stephen Crabb: Information on hotels booked is only available from February 2010, prior to this date individuals filed paper claim forms and the information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost. The following tables detail the information:
	
		
			 (a) Hotels used in the UK 
			  Number of officials stayed in hotels Total cost (£) 
			 2009-10 12 3,663.16 
			 2010-11 28 18,958.92 
			 2011-12 43 25,398.44 
			 2012-13 42 18,855.71 
		
	
	
		
			 (b) Hotels outside the UK 
			  Number of officials stayed in hotels outside UK Total cost (£) 
			 2009-10 3 328.50 
			 2010-11 0 — 
			 2011-12 0 — 
			 2012-13 3 975.06 
		
	
	The following table sets out the Top 20 rates booked by officials:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Top 20 rates claimed 
			  2009-10(1) 2010-11 2011-12(2) 2012-13 
			 1 120.00 120.00 120.00 218.56 
			 2 99.87 119.88 118.80 179.31 
			 3 99.86 119.19 110.00 122.29 
			 4 99.62 102.00 102.00 121.29 
			 5 99.00 100.00 100.00 120.00 
			 6 97.75 99.88 95.00 118.00 
			 7 95.00 99.87 91.00 117.26 
			 8 85.00 99.86 89.00 114.89 
			 9 80.00 99.00 85.00 112.44 
			 10 75.00 97.75 83.00 112.23 
			 11 64.62 95.00 82.00 107.50 
			 12 64.00 94.50 80.00 105.00 
			 13 59.00 91.00 79.00 104.18 
			 14 55.00 89.62 78.99 103.83 
			 15 — 89.00 72.00 102.17 
			 16 — 85.00 66.00 102.00 
			 17 — 84.62 64.00 101.38 
			 18 — 84.00 49.95 101.17 
			 19 — 83.00 — 100.00 
			 20 — 82.00 — 97.50 
			 (1) Only 14 rates booked. (2 )Only 18 rates booked.

Liver Diseases

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on (a) improving provision for the treatment of advanced liver disease in Wales and (b) supporting patients who have to travel to England for such treatment.

David Jones: As health is a devolved matter, it is for the Welsh Government to determine their own health policies to meet the needs of the people of Wales.
	The Wales Office, the Department of Health and the Welsh Government have been working together to agree long term solutions to some of the cross-border issues which have emerged since devolution. The Protocol for Cross-Border Healthcare Services was published on 1 April 2013. This protocol has been developed between the NHS in England and Wales and will be regularly reviewed to secure cross-border health care provision in a way that supports improved patient outcomes and avoids the fragmentation of care.

National Assembly for Wales

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consideration has been given to introducing a second scrutinising chamber in Wales.

David Jones: I am content that the Government of Wales Act 2006 sets out appropriate mechanisms for the scrutiny of Assembly legislation without the need to introduce a second chamber. These include powers for the Secretary of State to intervene in certain cases and for the Attorney-General or the Counsel General to refer questions of whether a Bill or any provision of a Bill is within competence to the Supreme Court for a decision. The Act also sets out a clear framework for Assembly Standing Orders to include processes for scrutinising Assembly Bills.

Official Hospitality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in his Department claimed reimbursements for working lunches and official entertainment in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each such year.

Stephen Crabb: In the last five years the Wales Office has not reimbursed any officials for working lunches or official entertainment.

Procurement

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was purchased by his Department in October 2012 with payment number 1001623.

Stephen Crabb: Payment number 1001623 in October 2012 relates to payment for the production, including Welsh translation, of the Wales Office 2011-12 Annual Report and Accounts.

Public Sector: Redundancy

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many public sector job losses there have been in (a) Wales and (b) each parliamentary constituency in Wales since May 2010.

David Jones: Since the end of Q1 2010 public sector employment in Wales has fallen by 19,000, the smallest reduction of any region of the UK. This has been more than offset by the 35,000 increase in private sector employment in Wales over the same period.
	The Office for National Statistics preferred source of statistics for public sector employment is the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES). Figures from this source are not available at the parliamentary constituency level.

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in his Department received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Stephen Crabb: One member of staff in the Wales Office received a payment in 2009-10 upon taking early retirement. 10 staff received voluntary exit scheme payments in 2011-12 and two in 2012-13 as part of the Wales Office's programme to deliver efficiencies savings and better align skills across the Department to ministerial priorities. The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right. Our permanent staff are employees of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), with other staff members on loan from the Welsh Government and other Government Departments. Some of the schemes under which Wales Office staff received payments were offered by the MOJ and the Welsh Government, and the Wales Office funded only some of the costs arising. The total cost funded by the Wales Office amounted to £19,250 in 2010-11, and £238,156.13 in 2011-12. Information relating to 2012-13 will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts.

Treasury

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many meetings he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the last three months.

David Jones: I have regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne).

Treasury

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2013, Official Report, column 406W, on Budget March 2013, if he will publish his letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

David Jones: In line with the practice of previous Administrations, details of internal discussions are not disclosed.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 710W, on broadband, whether Ofcom has set a timetable for revising the annual fees for 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum.

Edward Vaizey: Ofcom has stated it will publish a consultation later in the year seeking views on the proposed methodology that will be used in setting the revised annual licence fees for the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 710W, on broadband, what steps she is taking to monitor compliance with the Direction made to Ofcom in December 2010.

Edward Vaizey: We are working closely with Ofcom to ensure all six elements(1)as cited in the 2010 Direction, are completed in a timely, open and transparent manner.
	(1) Variation of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz licences to allow use for GSM and UMTS systems; Other variations to existing wireless telegraphy licences; Licence fees; Spectrum trading; Competition assessment and Auction of licences.

Broadband: Enterprise Zones

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what benchmarks, deadlines and targets she has set for (a) broadband roll out and (b) superfast broadband roll-out to enterprise zones.

Edward Vaizey: The Government have committed to ensuring that enterprise zones will have access to superfast broadband by May 2015. The Government are working with each enterprise zone to develop plans for broadband roll-out and exploring opportunities to bring forward delivery where possible.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to ensure the fastest possible roll-out of fibre-optic broadband networks to rural areas in the UK.

Edward Vaizey: We are making good progress on the local broadband projects with 19 contracts signed to date and we expect them all to be agreed by the end of the summer. The Government have also committed to removing a swathe of red tape to avoid potential delays to the roll-out of infrastructure and we remain on track to deliver these reforms by the summer of 2013. Northern Ireland was allocated £4.4 million to support broadband roll-out and the Northern Ireland Assembly has local responsibility for delivery of a broadband project using that funding.

Museums and Galleries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people visited museums in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England in 2012.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 15 April 2013
	The total number of visits to national museums and galleries in England for 2012 is 44,519,777. However we are unable to provide data for Barnsley and South Yorkshire as the data are not held centrally.
	Total visits to all England museums can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008 41,107,722 
			 2009 41,154,524 
			 2010 43,316,838 
			 2011 43,734,704

Olympic Games 2012

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible were employed before the London 2012 Olympics to carry out functions relating to the Games; and how many officials remained employed to carry out functions related to the London 2012 Olympics in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Hugh Robertson: During 2012-13 the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) employed by DCMS to carry out functions relating to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was 140. It excludes a number of staff from the Department who were engaged on this work temporarily during the period of the Games themselves.
	Two full time equivalents are currently employed full-time on the London 2012 Games work, including oversight of the 2013-14 programme to transform the Olympic Village for residential use and the wind up of the Olympic delivery bodies, while a number of staff in the sport, culture, tourism and other teams have aspects of London 2012 legacy work as part of their functions.
	Information about our arm’s length bodies is not held centrally.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria are used in (a) her Department and (b) each public body for which she is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Hugh Robertson: Bonus payments are made to officials in DCMS for two purposes: in year payments to reward outstanding contributions, in particularly demanding tasks or situations with small one-off payments, and performance related payments, to reward highly successful performance over a whole appraisal year. Awards are made in line with Departmental policy, Cabinet Office principles and Civil Service Pay guidelines on performance-related pay.
	The criteria used are as follows:
	In Year Reward Scheme:
	Dealing with demanding situations, e.g. matters of political sensitivity or organisational change
	Taking a creative or innovative approach to one or more work situations
	Delivering key ministerial objectives
	Short term commitment to getting the job done, meeting difficult deadlines to an excellent standard
	Performance Related Pay Scheme:
	Have exceeded all agreed objectives, making a very strong contribution to the work of the Department.
	Have demonstrated and championed DCMS values consistently throughout the year.
	Are a role model across the Department and/or externally
	Since 2010-11 DCMS has restricted performance related payments for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (from 65% in previous years) and to 40% for staff in delegated grades (from 60% in previous years) since 2011-12.
	We do not hold central records for our public bodies.

Royal Charters: Regulation

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with media representatives about Royal Charter regulations on the basis of the Leveson proposals; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Department regularly publishes details of ministerial meetings with media representatives including newspaper and other media proprietors, editors and senior executives, full details of which can be found at the following link:
	http://www.transparency.culture.gov.uk/category/other/meetings/

World War I: Anniversaries

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent progress she has made on her proposals to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

Edward Vaizey: The Government have announced a four year centenary programme, supported by £50 million of government funding. Throughout the centenary, remembrance, cultural and education initiatives will feature prominently in national events. The Government are actively developing plans with Commonwealth countries and other Governments alongside encouraging and supporting community activity across the UK.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Wages Board

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board on agricultural workers' wages in (a) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) the North East of England.

David Heath: There has not been any assessment of the regional impact of the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board on agricultural workers' wages.
	We have been quite clear that there is considerable uncertainty about the impact on workers’ wages. The reality will depend on demand, which evidence shows is increasing, and how farmers use the increased flexibility.
	Many workers are already paid above the agricultural minimum wage for their grade, so it is probable that their wages will not be affected by the removal of the Agricultural Wages Board. Moreover, the underlying market conditions suggest that farmers will need to offer competitive packages to attract and retain skilled and qualified staff.
	Workers with existing contracts at the time of abolition will retain entitlement to the terms of that employment until the contract either comes to an end or is varied by agreement between the worker and the employer.
	All workers will be protected by the national minimum wage.

Animal Welfare: Crime

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent discussion he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice regarding sentencing for and protection against animal cruelty offences; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he has considered introducing a lifetime ban for animal ownership for persistent or serious offenders of animal cruelty;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of increasing the maximum sentence available for animal cruelty offences for the purposes of ensuring sufficient protection and deterrent measures; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: holding answer 23 April 2013
	Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal or to fail to provide for an animal's welfare needs. On conviction, the maximum penalties available for an offence of unnecessary suffering are a fine of £20,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both. The maximum penalties for failing to provide for the welfare of an animal are a fine of £5,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both. The court may, in addition to any other punishment on conviction, disqualify the person convicted from having custody of any animal for such a period as it thinks fit. This could mean a lifetime ban from keeping animals.
	Sections 85-87 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 provide powers to remove the maximum limits of penalties imposed on offenders by magistrates courts. However, these sections have not yet been commenced.

Animals: Sales

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what progress his Department has made on meeting representatives of classified websites to discuss the issue of online advertisement and sale of pets and animals;
	(2)  what progress his Department has made on assessing and addressing the issues surrounding the online advertisement and sale of pets and animals.

David Heath: DEFRA is in regular contact with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), which is a group of concerned animal welfare, animal keeping and veterinary organisations, who are working with a number of classified websites to address the issues raised by the proliferation of internet pet advertising. Through the PAAG, DEFRA officials met with representatives from classified websites. Further meetings are planned, as well as the provision of guidance to the sector and potential buyers.

Bees: Pesticides

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he plans to take in response to the findings in relation to bee health of the recent peer reviews of risk assessments of neonicotinoid pesticides undertaken by the European Food Safety Authority; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: The Government have been examining the evidence on this important issue with care. We have always made it clear that we will be guided by the evidence and will act if there is a need. If action were needed, we would want to make sure that this was effective in reducing risks to bees while minimising unintended consequences for the environment or human health.
	The independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides has considered the evidence on neonicotinoids on several occasions. The Committee advised, following its meeting on 29 January, that there were grounds for a review of neonicotinoid product authorisations under pesticides legislation. Ministers have accepted this advice and officials in the Health and Safety Executive's Chemicals Regulation Directorate launched this work on 5 April.
	While laboratory studies show that bees may be significantly affected by neonicotinoids, field data on honey bees indicate that the level of exposure in non-laboratory conditions does not lead to these harmful effects. There has been an absence of field data on other bee species and DEFRA therefore commissioned field trials on bumble bees. This work was published on the DEFRA website with our assessment of the key evidence and is now available online at:
	www.gov.uk
	This work concludes that it is not possible to rule out rare effects of neonicotinoids on bees in the field. However, the evidence indicates that effects on bees do not occur under normal circumstances. Consequently, it supports the view that the risk to bee populations from neonicotinoids, as they are currently used, is low.
	The European Commission has proposed restrictions on the use of three neonicotinoids, following the peer review by the European Food Safety Authority. We have urged the Commission to complete the scientific assessment, taking account of our new research, and to assess the impacts of action so that the measures taken are proportionate to the risks identified.

Bees: Pesticides

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact on bees of the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

David Heath: While laboratory studies show that bees may be significantly affected by neonicotinoids, field data on honey bees indicate that the level of exposure in non-laboratory conditions does not lead to these harmful effects. There has been an absence of field data on other bee species and DEFRA, therefore, commissioned field trials on bumble bees. The report of these field trials was published on the DEFRA website with our assessment of the key evidence and is now available online at:
	www.gov.uk
	Our assessment of the overall evidence concludes that it is not possible to rule out rare effects of neonicotinoids on bees in the field. However, the evidence indicates that effects on bees do not occur under normal circumstances. Consequently, it supports the view that the risk to bee populations from neonicotinoids, as they are currently used, is low. It is clear that more research is needed in this area, and we are both commissioning additional work and encouraging other EU states and the Commission to do so.

Dogs

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of animal welfare standards in UK puppy farms; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: holding answer 23 April 2013
	Under the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973 and the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999, local authorities have powers to enter and inspect licensed dog breeding establishments. Under the Breeding of Dogs Act 1991, local authorities have powers to enter and inspect dog breeding establishments that they suspect should have a valid licence and are unlicensed. In addition, under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, local authorities have powers to investigate allegations of poor welfare or cruelty in unlicensed dog breeding establishments.
	It is therefore for local authorities to assess the welfare standards of dog breeding establishments and decide what action, if any, to take.

Livestock Industry

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to assist livestock owners whose herd numbers have been reduced as a result of unseasonable weather;
	(2)  what assistance his Department is offering to farmers in Shropshire who have lost livestock as a result of the recent unseasonable cold weather.

David Heath: The latest steps that the Government have taken to assist those farmers who have been severely affected by the cold weather were set out in my written ministerial statement on 18 April 2013, Official Report, column 34WS.

Livestock: Exports

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues in the Department for Transport on bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 to permit port authorities to refuse to allow the export of live animals through their ports.

David Heath: I have not had any discussions with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Transport. The Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 aims to ensure that ports are available to all without discrimination. It would not be an appropriate legal instrument to introduce an effective barrier to trade for the use by port authorities as they see fit. In any case, banning the export of live animals would be illegal and undermine the principle of free movement of goods enshrined in the treaty on the functioning of the European Union.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Business: Females

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what recent representations she has received on equality of opportunity for women in company boardrooms.

Jo Swinson: The Minister for Women and Equalities, the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), attended the launch of Cranfield’s Female FTSE 100 report and Lord Davies’ ‘two-year on’ Women on Boards report on 10 April alongside the President of the CBI, Sir Roger Carr, and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable). Both reports highlight progress is being made for female directors on the boards of FTSE 100 companies and the FTSE 250.
	The Minister for Women and Equalities discussed with a wide range of stakeholders, including FTSE chairs and members of the 30% Club, the progress being made and what more can be done to accelerate the progress we are already making.

Castes

William Bain: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what the policy of her Department is on placing discrimination on the grounds of caste on an equal footing as other discrimination on the grounds of race under section 9(5) of the Equality Act 2010; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to that end.

Helen Grant: The UK Government think that no-one should suffer prejudice or discrimination. Such behaviour is wrong and should not be condoned whether or not it is prohibited by legislation. This is a deeply complex issue but we have not seen any evidence so far that suggests that legislation is the most appropriate way of dealing with caste discrimination, to the extent that this exists in Britain.
	The current Government are the first Government to address the issue of caste discrimination. A written ministerial statement of 1 March 2013, Official Report, columns 39-40WS, announced an educational initiative with the Hindu and Sikh communities on the complex and sensitive issue of caste prejudice.

Castes

William Bain: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the current law on racial discrimination in the UK with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in respect of (a) discrimination on grounds of caste and (b) other matters.

Helen Grant: The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination refers to racial discrimination as being based on
	“race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin”.
	The convention places no obligation on states to incorporate it into domestic law and the UK has not done so. The Government understand their obligation under the convention to take all necessary measures to ensure that the law and practice of the UK fully respect and implement all the provisions of the convention. The Government are confident that they have done so and continue to do so.

Multiple Births: Maternity Pay

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will link the expiry date of maternity pay in the case of a multiple birth to the expected date of delivery rather than the actual date of delivery; and if she will make a statement.

Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	Statutory maternity pay provides a measure of earnings replacement to allow a woman to take time away from work to prepare for and recover from childbirth. Generally, a mother can choose to start her statutory maternity pay at any point 11 weeks before the expected week of confinement (i.e. expected week of birth of a child) until the day after confinement. As the expiry date of statutory maternity pay is linked to its start date, this in turn means that the expiry date is already linked to the expected date of confinement rather than the actual date of delivery for many women.
	However, where payment of SMP has not already started, it will start on the day after the child is born (or in the case of a multiple pregnancy, the day after the last child is born). In all cases, statutory maternity pay is payable for a consecutive 39 week period. We have no plans to change this policy.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Banks

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had with the Irish Department of Finance on ensuring that Northern Ireland will not be disproportionately affected in terms of job loss during the restructuring through the Irish banking sector and Irish banks.

Theresa Villiers: I will be engaging with Irish Ministers on the impact of changes to the structure of the Irish banking system on Northern Ireland. I am also in contact with the Northern Ireland Finance Minister on this issue.

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Theresa Villiers: Following the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, my Department does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	Since devolution, my Department has not held any voluntary exit schemes.
	My Department has two non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, my hon. Friend may wish to write to the Commissions direct on these matters—contact details are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 ALB Status Contact details 
			 Parades Commission Northern Ireland Executive NDPB Info@paradescommission.org 
			 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Executive NDPB information@nihrc.org 
			 Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland Advisory NDPB bcni@belfast.org.uk

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Scotland

Pete Wishart: To ask the Leader of the House 
	(1)  what (a) external organisations and (b) individuals his Office engaged with as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at such consultations;
	(2)  how many members of his Office staff have been allocated to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; and if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of this work;
	(3)  what meetings (a) he and (b) officials in his Office have had with the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at each such meeting;
	(4)  what work his Office has commissioned by external consultants in relation to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; which consultants were used; and how much any such consultancy has cost.

Andrew Lansley: None of my officials have been appointed to such work; I have conducted no such meetings and commissioned no such work relating to the Scotland Analysis programme.

SCOTLAND

Jobseekers

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of jobseekers in Scotland likely to be affected by the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill.

David Mundell: Nobody actively seeking a job in Scotland will be affected by the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013.

Budget 2013

Jim McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effect of Budget 2013 on Scotland.

Michael Moore: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Members for Glasgow North (Ann McKechin) and for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Cathy Jamieson).

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability: Equality

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of statutory equality needs in the context of planned changes to the structure of provisions to enable disabled people to live independently.

Esther McVey: The Government consider the equality implications of all policy changes and publish these, where appropriate, as required by the 2010 Equality Act and the 2006 Act which preceded it. At every stage of policy development the Department gives due regard to equality needs and continues to carry out analysis of the likely impacts of its policies on protected groups, including disabled people. Impact assessments of policy changes are provided routinely, in accordance with the Equality Act.
	The Department published an impact assessment and equality impact assessment on the reform of DLA in May 2012.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/174995/dla-reform-wr2011-ia.pdf.pdf
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/174970/eia-dla-reform-wr2011.pdf.pdf
	The Department also published updated equality impact analysis in our response to the consultation on the Personal Independence Payment assessment criteria and regulations.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181181/pip-assessment-thresholds-and-consultation-response.pdf
	A full equality impact assessment was also published alongside the Government's response to the consultation on the future of the Independent Living Fund in December 2012.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184151/closure-of-independent-living-fund-eia.pdf

Homelessness

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the toolkit for identification of homelessness by Jobcentre Plus advisers; and when he last met representatives of homelessness charities to discuss this matter.

Mark Hoban: There is no specific toolkit for the identification of homelessness. However, Jobcentre Plus advisers are equipped with the necessary guidance and training to identify and provide an appropriate level of tailored support for the homeless, as well as other disadvantaged groups. As a priority group, the homeless are able to access additional support through Jobcentre Plus advisers to enter employment, including early access to the Work programme. The guidance which supports Jobcentre Plus advisers is subject to regular review to ensure its effectiveness for helping to tackle homelessness and the barriers it creates to employment.
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions meets representatives of the homeless charities on a regular basis to discuss a whole range of topics and these meetings are not limited to this particular matter.

Homelessness

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to improve job outcomes for homeless people in the work programme.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not specify to work programme providers how they should support participants into work. Providers are expected to use their knowledge and expertise to achieve positive outcomes for all their participants, including the homeless.

Human Papillomavirus

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many payments have been made by the NHS to compensate girls who have had an adverse reaction to the drug Cerverix in each of the last three years.

Esther McVey: As Minister responsible for this policy, I will be answering on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health.
	To clarify, vaccine damage payments are paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to ease the present and future burdens of those suffering from vaccine damage and their families; the payment is not compensation.
	The Department does not hold information on which specific vaccines are linked to a successful vaccine damage payment claim.
	Claimants are asked to specify on the claim form all the vaccinations the disabled person received. However, as many vaccinations can be given in close proximity to each other it is not always possible to state categorically which vaccine caused the adverse reaction. Where a payment is made disability is not attributed to any specific vaccination.

Universal Credit

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the potential additional cost of increasing the maximum childcare subsidy available under universal credit from 70 per cent to 85 per cent of childcare costs for families that do not have a member earning more than the income tax personal allowance in 2015-16.

Mark Hoban: The Government want to encourage people to work and where possible to increase their hours and recognise that those working the longest hours are likely to face the greatest child care costs. The Government will spend an additional £200 million on child care support through universal credit, which is equivalent to providing support for 85% of child care costs for families qualifying for the universal credit child care element where the lone parent or both earners in a couple pay income tax. This will be introduced from April 2016.
	The details of how to provide this support will be determined as part of a wider consultation on the Tax-free Childcare scheme for those families outside universal credit, to ensure the two schemes operate effectively together. This will be published in due course.
	All figures refer to universal credit steady-state when migration has been completed and universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Work Programme

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will strengthen the minimum service standards for the Work Programme.

Mark Hoban: We are exploring how providers are able to strengthen their minimum service standards.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of recent allegations of poor practice in animal welfare issues made by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will set up an independent investigation into the concerns raised by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection about wrongdoing during animal experiments at Imperial College London.

James Brokenshire: The use of living animals in scientific procedures which may cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm is strictly regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. We are determined to ensure animal research is carried out humanely and only when necessary and any reports suggesting that individuals or establishments are falling short of the high standards required by the 1986 Act are taken extremely seriously.
	Home Office inspectors are investigating the allegations of cruelty and bad practice at Imperial College and will make recommendations on any action to be taken as a matter of urgency.

Animal Experiments

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she takes to ensure that non-technical summaries of applications for project licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (a) are a fair summary of the applications before she publishes them and (b) highlight the anticipated harms to animals and benefits from the research.

James Brokenshire: All project licence applications must be accompanied by a project summary written in non-technical terms. The project summary must explain objectives of the programme of work specified in the application; describe the types of animal and estimate the number of each type that will be used; predict the harm to the animals that will be caused and benefits that will be gained by carrying out the programme of work; and demonstrate how the applicant will comply with the principles of replacement, reduction and refinement throughout the project.
	Home Office staff will assess the non-technical summaries to ensure they are a fair summary of the applications before they are published and that they highlight the anticipated harms to animals and benefits from the research as part of the process of assessing the project licence application.

Assaults on Police

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy that all police forces should maintain records of injuries to police officers injured in the line of duty, and that those records should include the (a) numbers of days lost and (b) cost to the police force.

Damian Green: England and Wales Police forces already collect accident data on injuries on duty, and will as a matter of good practice maintain records on the numbers of days lost. The calculation of the cost to the police force for days lost is not collected centrally. We do not currently intend to issue a policy to ask forces to provide anything beyond established regulations and existing requirements.

Asylum: Repatriation

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) nationality and (b) gender was of each person assisted to return home under the Assisted Voluntary Return Scheme operated by Refugee Action on (i) 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011 and (ii) 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012; and to which country each such person was returned.

Mark Harper: holding answer 18 April 2013
	Three male individuals from Albania, Bangladesh and India were returned to their home countries respectively under the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) scheme on 31 December 2012 run by Refugee Action. There were no AVR's on 1 January 2011, 31 December 2011 or 1 January 2012.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October to December 2012, tables rv.01 to rv.08, from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2012/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2012

Baroness Thatcher

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the costs to her Department were for the deployment of police to oversee the funeral of the late Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, by category of expenditure;
	(2)  what the costs to her Department were for the rehearsals and preparations for the funeral of the late Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, by category of expenditure.

Damian Green: The cost will be published in due course.

Borders: Personal Records

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what she expects the highest achievable percentage coverage of all passenger movements to be for the e-Borders programme; and when she expects this figure to be achieved.

Mark Harper: Advance passenger information (API) is now collected for over 142 million passenger and crew movements each year on over 4,400 routes, equating to 66% of passenger movements to and from the UK.
	This amounts to 80% of all aviation movements and includes 100% of non-EU commercial aviation passengers.
	We continue to extend the collection of API data to the maritime and general aviation sectors and are engaging with rail operators in order to maximise data collection. New capability has been added to the system to enable the processing of API received from all types of transport.
	We continually work to achieve the highest possible coverage, but there are a number of factors which potentially limit the volume of passenger data that can be captured. These include European Freedom of Movement legislation and operators’ business models, especially in the rail sector. Considering these factors, it is not possible to set absolute targets.

Daniel Morgan

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will set a deadline for informing the family of Daniel Morgan whether she will set up an independent inquiry into the circumstances of his death and the subsequent police investigation.

Damian Green: holding answer 17 April 2013
	Discussions are continuing with the family and we hope to make an announcement shortly.

Deportation: EU Nationals

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU nationals challenged deportation orders in each of the last five years; and how many such challenges were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful.

Mark Harper: The requested data are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Table 1: Appeals lodged by EEA nationals against deportation orders (2008-12) 
			 Year appeal lodged 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total 
			 Number of appeals lodged 112 150 260 272 373 1,167 
			 Of which:       
			 Successful (appeal allowed) 38 54 117 129 132 470 
			 Unsuccessful (appeal dismissed) 39 60 83 75 109 366 
		
	
	(a) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
	(b) Data relate to appeals lodged between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012.
	(c) Appeal outcomes may have been reached in years subsequent to the year the appeal was lodged or may remain outstanding. Appeals awaiting an outcome are not shown in the table above.

Electronic Surveillance

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  in what circumstances deep packet inspections undertaken by the Home Office, GCHQ, the police and the intelligence and security agencies can take place without a judicial warrant or a warrant by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State;
	(2)  how many deep packet inspections undertaken by the Home Office, GCHQ, the police and the intelligence and security agencies were not covered by a judicial warrant or a warrant from the Secretary of State in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 12 March 2013
	The lawful interception of the content of a communication is governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Whatever technique is used to effect interception, the limited circumstances where access to content may be granted without a warrant, include:
	If the sender and recipient of a communication have given their permission.
	With the consent of one party, where the surveillance by means of the interception is authorised under Part 2 of RIPA (e.g. a kidnapping case, where the police may wish to record a call to trace the kidnapper).
	In terms of the frequency of use of these techniques, as with the practice of previous Governments, we do not comment on security matters.

Emergency Services

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often the Joint Emergency Service Interoperability Programme meets; and what its authority is.

James Brokenshire: The Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme is owned and run by the emergency services. The Home Office funds the programme and it receives cross-Government support. The programme governance oversees and directs the development and delivery of the work. The governance consists of:
	A bi-annual Ministerial Oversight Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for the Home Department and attended by Government Ministers from the Home Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department of Health, and the Cabinet Office; senior representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers, Chief Fire Officers Association, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary and the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser.
	A quarterly Strategic Board chaired by a Chief Fire Officer with attendance from the emergency services and Government Departments.
	A monthly Programme Board chaired by the Programme Senior Responsible Owner, a Deputy Chief Constable with attendance from the emergency services and Government Departments.
	There are also regular meetings of subject matter experts from the emergency services who are supporting the development of the programme.

Entry Clearances: Iran

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the UK Border Agency to be able to return passports to Iranian nationals making UK visa requests between submitting the application and receiving a decision.

Mark Harper: We do not routinely return passports to visa applicants in between submitting their application and the entry clearance officer making a decision. In certain circumstances we do return the passport—currently, if an Iranian national makes an application to come to the UK through the family migration route in Istanbul, we do give the applicant the option of having their passport returned whilst we process the application. We do not currently have any plans to extend this service to other Iranian applications.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to the Minister for Immigration dated 12 March 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs Shannaz Bibi.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 23 April 2013.

Metropolitan Police

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Metropolitan police officers are working abroad.

Damian Green: The decision as to how police officers are deployed, and the duties those officers undertake, is an operational matter for the relevant police chief, in association with their PCC (or in the case of the Metropolitan Police Service the Deputy Mayor for Policing).

Police: Libya

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK police officers are working in Libya; what the cost of such officers has been to date; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The Home Office does not hold there data.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Scotland

Pete Wishart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what (a) external organisations and (b) individuals his Office engaged with as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at such consultations;
	(2)  how many members of his Office staff have been allocated to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; and if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of this work;
	(3)  what meetings (a) he and (b) officials in his Office have had with the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at each such meeting;
	(4)  what work his Office has commissioned by external consultants in relation to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; which consultants were used; and how much any such consultancy has cost.

Nicholas Clegg: Work on the Scotland analysis programme is being carried out across Government by policy experts in relevant areas. The cost of carrying out the work is being funded from existing departmental budgets in the normal way.
	My officials and I engage with a wide variety of individuals and organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	My office has not commissioned any external consultants in relation to work on the Scotland Analysis programme.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service: Training

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown Prosecution Service in-house lawyers (a) participated in the agency's Crown advocacy training course and (b) passed it in each of the last five years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) in-house Crown advocacy training consists of three separate courses, each of which must be passed before advocates, whether solicitors or barristers, are permitted to prosecute in the Crown court on behalf of the service. Successful completion of both of the Stage 1A and Stage 1B courses enabled the advocate to prosecute non-trial cases in the Crown court. Successful completion of the Stage 2 course permitted the advocate also to conduct jury trials in the Crown court.
	The following table shows, in each of the last five years, the number of places taken up by CPS in-house lawyers on each course, and the number of delegates who passed. The number of places includes delegates who retook courses. Eliminating the data relating to retakes could be obtained only by consulting individual course and training records which would incur a disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Stage 1A Stage 1B Stage 2 
			  Places Passed Places Passed Places Passed 
			 2008-09 241 136 132 89 117 57 
			 2009-10 108 53 93 54 65 21 
			 2010-11 34 16 32 10 179 45 
			 2011-12 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 2012-13 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Attorney-General how many days of work were carried out by officials in (a) the Law Officers' Departments and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on average in each of the last five years; and what the total salary cost was of officials in each year.

Dominic Grieve: The following table shows the number of days work carried out by permanent members of staff in the Attorney-General's Office, Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Treasury Solicitor's Department on average in each of the last five years together with the total salary cost for those officials.
	
		
			  Days of work(1) Total salary cost(2) (£) 
			 2007-08 171,820 44,141,000 
			 2008-09 186,560 47,890,000 
			 2009-10 198,440 52,935,000 
			 2010-11 206,360 53,471,000 
			 2011-12 214,500 56,765,000 
			 (1) Estimate calculated as 220 (average working days in year) times number of staff (full-time equivalent). (2) Salary cost includes wages and salaries, social security costs, and other pension costs. 
		
	
	The number of days of work carried out by officials in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the total salary cost of officials in each of the last five years is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Days of work(1) Total salary cost (£) 
			 2008-09 1,848,600 278,712,000 
			 2009-10 1,887,750 297,419,000 
			 2010-11 1,795,050 291,188,000 
			 2011-12 1,663,650 294,864,000 
			 2012-13 1,586,475 271,771,000 
			 (1) The total number of days worked has been estimated by taking the average number of whole time equivalent permanent staff in CPS's accounts and multiplying by 225 days, which represents the average number of days worked in a year. (2) Salary cost represents the total salaries of permanently employed staff for the year. Figures in the accounts for 2008-09 and 2010-11 have been restated. Figures for 2012-13 have not been audited. 
		
	
	The SFO does not have a central record of the number of days worked by officials and compiling this information would incur disproportionate cost. However, during the course of this financial year the SFO will be introducing changes to its HR system which will allow employees to record annual leave centrally.
	The following table shows the total pay costs and total headcount in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Total pay costs (£ million) Headcount 
			 2008-09 23.6 308 
			 2009-10 19.5 312 
			 2010-11 19.9 301 
			 2011-12 18.8 306 
			 2012-13 18.5 301

JUSTICE

Claims Management Services

Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department plans to publish the names of claims management companies which are responsible for large numbers of complaints to the Claims Management Regulator.

Helen Grant: The Department publishes the names of claims management companies (CMCs) that have been subject to statutory enforcement action, which ranges from the imposition of restrictions to CMC licences, to suspensions and cancellations. The Legal Ombudsman will publish data on closed complaints against CMCs once it assumes responsibility for the handling of service complaints against CMCs.

Coroners

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the approximate geographical size is of each current coroner's district;
	(2)  with reference to his Department's consultation CP2/2013, on coroner reforms, what the estimated geographical size of each coroner area will be;
	(3)  with reference to his Department's consultation paper CP2/2013, on coroner reforms, what the estimated population is of each coroner area;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the human population of each coroner district.

Helen Grant: The information requested in the above PQs is not held by the MOJ.
	Information held by MOJ in relation to coroners is published at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coroners-statistics-ns
	The next publication will cover the year 2012 and will be available on the 16 May 2013.
	However some information on size of coroner districts and their population can be obtained through the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability:
	http://www.cipfa.org/

Criminal Proceedings

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the average mean number of days was from offence to completion, (a) by region and (b) in total for (i) magistrates and (ii) Crown courts in England and Wales in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what proportion of trials at (a) magistrates and (b) Crown courts were ineffective (i) in total and (ii) by region in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: Data relating to the period 2012-13 are due for publication on 20 June 2013, as such this information is currently unavailable.
	Table 1 presents the average (mean) number of days taken from offence to completion, broken down by region and court type for financial year 2011-12. The time taken from offence to completion is affected by factors such as the complexity of the case and the time taken to report the crime following the incident.
	With regards to the proportion of ineffective trials, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 January 2013, Official Report, column 777W.
	In November last year, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), announced as one of his priorities a real drive for a criminal justice and court system that works effectively and puts victims first. Work is underway to increase both the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system. It will look at the whole of the system to drive performance and tackle some of the perennial weaknesses so it is quicker, less erratic and more efficient. We will be publishing a strategy and action plan shortly which will set out in detail how we will achieve this.
	
		
			 Table 1 Average number of days from offence to completion for all criminal cases completed in the magistrates courts and the Crown court, by region, England and Wales, 2011-12(1, 2, 3) 
			  Average number of days from offence to completion 
			 Region Magistrates courts(4) Crown Court(5) All completed criminal cases 
			 London 151 312 163 
			 Midlands 149 316 160 
			 North East 130 295 141 
			 North West 138 305 149 
			 South East 145 324 156 
			 South West 141 338 153 
			 Wales 150 276 158 
			 England and Wales 143 311 154 
			 (1) Excludes breaches and cases with an offence to completion time greater than 10 years. (2) Statistics are sourced from the CREST linked court data and include around 95% of completed cases. (3) Only one offence is counted for each defendant in the case. If two or more cases complete on the same day, the case with the longest duration is included. (4) Included cases completed in the magistrates courts during the specified time period, where no further action is required by the magistrates courts, excluding committals. (5) Included all criminal cases which have received a verdict and concluded in the specified time period, in the Crown court. Data source: Libra Management Information System Timeliness Analysis Report (TAR) and CREST linked court data, HM Courts and Tribunals Service Source: Criminal Courts Statistics, Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice

Disclosure of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the legal protection afforded to whistleblowers who disclose information relating to the use of public funds.

Jo Swinson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Government have made no specific consideration of the protection afforded to those who make disclosures about the use of public funds. The Government believe whistleblowing protections are working well overall and in keeping with a recent commitment, will shortly be issuing a call for evidence to establish if there is a case for making changes further to the ones already included in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill.

Gender Recognition

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what existing guidance is in place for the Crown Prosecution Service and Procurator Fiscal Service on the prosecution of transgender individuals who have not revealed their gender history; what assessment he has made of the recent implementation of such guidelines; and if he will (a) introduce further, amended guidance and (b) bring forward legislative proposals following recent cases of alleged deception being used as a reason to prosecute transgender individuals for sexual offences.

Helen Grant: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has no specific guidance on the prosecution of transgender people who have not revealed their gender history. There are no current plans to introduce such guidance or related legislative proposals. Prosecutors in England and Wales consider each case on its own facts and merits. Decisions to prosecute are taken by prosecutors who apply the Code for Crown Prosecutors issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the most recent edition of which was published in January 2013.
	In relation to the Procurator Fiscal Service, this would be a matter for the Lord Advocate. Any legislative proposals in respect of the criminal law in Scotland would be a devolved matter for the Scottish Parliament.

Northern Ireland

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  when he last met the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive; and what issues were discussed;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive about probation service provision.

Jeremy Wright: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), had a meeting with David Ford, the Northern Ireland Justice Minister on 6 February 2013 in Belfast. This was an introductory meeting at which we discussed matters of mutual interest in relation to justice policy.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Government plan to publish the response to their consultation entitled Reducing the Number and Costs of Whiplash Claims.

Helen Grant: The ‘Reducing the number and costs of whiplash claims’ consultation closed on 8 March 2013. Submissions received from stakeholders are currently being analysed. The Government will publish their response in due course.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many days of work were carried out by officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on average in each of the last five years; and what the total salary cost was of officials in each year.

Helen Grant: The MOJ staff paybill has reduced by £330 million since 2009.
	The average total number of days that should be worked by each member of staff in the Ministry of Justice, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies is 225. For the purposes of departmental calculations, this takes into account weekends, bank holidays, privilege days, and assumes 25 annual leave days for everyone.
	Tables showing details of the end of year figures for full time equivalent (FTE) staff, the average number of days worked and the pay bill throughout each of those years is set out as follows.
	The tables exclude working days lost to sickness absence. For this, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer from my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green), on 21 March 2013, Official Report, column 820W.
	Details for the financial year 2012-13 are not currently available as they are currently being produced and will be available on the Justice pages of the:
	www.yougov.co.uk
	website in the year. A link to the website is as follows:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/corporate-reports
	Tables showing total MOJ Pay Bill and FTE at the end of each financial year for the period 31 March 2009 to 31 March 2012 are as follows:
	
		
			 Organisation name Payroll FTE as at 31 March 2012 End of year total days worked (FTE) Payroll Paybill for 2010-12 (£) 
			 MOJ 66,589.68 14,982,678.00 2,391,486,501 
			 Agencies 598.51 134,664.75 22,755,499 
			 ALB/NDPB 2,260.03 508,506.75 84,941,667 
			 Total 69,448.22 15,625,849.50 2,499,183,668 
		
	
	
		
			 Organisation name Payroll FTE as at 31 March 2011 End of year total days worked (FTE) Payroll Paybill for 2010-11 (£) 
			 MOJ HQ 72,760.20 16,371,045.00 2,621,180,445 
			 Agencies 5,437.92 1,223,532.00 210,215,547 
			 ALB/NDPB 2,246.53 505,469.25 88,642,124 
			 Total 80,444.65 18,100,046.25 2,920,038,116 
		
	
	
		
			 Organisation name Payroll FIE as at 31 March 2010 End of year total days worked (FTE) Payroll Paybill for 2009-10 (£) 
			 MOJ 74,207.21 16,696,622.25 2,517,067,639 
			 Other Agencies 6,087.75 1,369,743.75 230,598,000 
			 ALB/NDPB 2,213.55 498,048.75 83,502,000 
			 Total 82,508.51 18,564,414.75 2,831,167,639 
		
	
	
		
			 Organisation name Payroll FTE as at 31 March 2009 End of year total days worked (FTE) Payroll Paybill for 2008-09 (£) 
			 MOJ HQ 76,460.89 17,203,700.25 0 
			 Agencies 0.00 0.00 0 
			 ALB/NDPB 0.00 0.00 0 
			 Total 76,460.89 17,203,700.25 0 
			 Notes: 1. Single source paybill figures for 2009 are not available as the Ministry has only been collecting them since March 2010 as a Cabinet Office requirement. Probation Trusts paybill figures are also are unavailable as the Ministry does not hold the data centrally. 2. For 2011-12, "MOJ" includes Ministry of Justice (HQ), HM Courts and Tribunals Service, National Offender Management Service, the Office of the Public Guardian, and the UK Supreme Court. "Other agencies" include The National Archives. NDPBs for the period include the Criminal Cases Review Commission, Information Commissioner's Office, Judicial Appointments Commission, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Commission, Parole Board, Probation Trusts and the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. 3. Payroll Bill details for the 35 England and Wales Probation Trusts are not available for the year 2011-12. 4. For 2010-11, those business areas within "MOJ" are the same as in 2011-12, but also include the Scotland and Wales Offices, and the then separated HM Court Service and HM Tribunals Service. 5. "Other agencies" were The National Archives and The Land Registry. 6. NDPBs for the period remain the same as 2011-12.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Arms Trade: Treaties

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support an international prohibition of weapons that once activated can select and engage targets without further intervention from human operators.

Alistair Burt: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 6 March 2013, Official Report, columns 1021-22W.

Bahrain

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State had with his counterparts in the government of Bahrain about law enforcement and human rights in advance of the Formula One Grand Prix in that country.

Alistair Burt: I regularly discuss law enforcement and human rights in Bahrain with Bahraini Ministers.
	During my visit in March I raised areas in which we have concerns with a variety of interlocutors, and discussed how the UK can support the Bahraini Government with further reforms as recommended by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the United Nations Human Rights Council.
	The ambassador specifically raised the Grand Prix during his meeting with the Interior Minister last week, ahead of the race.
	We were pleased and encouraged to see the event take place peacefully, with security forces exercising restraint and citizens taking part in legitimate and peaceful demonstrations.

Chad: Niger

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of safety on the border between Chad and Niger.

Mark Simmonds: Our assessment of the safety on the border between Chad and Niger is reflected in our Travel Advice published at:
	www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
	We advise against all travel to within 30km of the border on the Chadian side and advise against all travel to the regions bordering Chad in Niger.

Guinea-Bissau

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the arrest of the UK consul-general in Guinea-Bissau; and whether he plans to appoint a replacement consul-general.

Mark Simmonds: We have no plans to replace our honorary-consul in Guinea-Bissau, Mr Jan van Maanen. Media reporting in early April that Mr van Maanen had been arrested was incorrect.

Human Rights

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria his Department uses to assess whether a country is included as a country of concern or as a case study in its annual human rights report.

David Lidington: The primary criterion for inclusion as a country of concern is the gravity of the human rights situation in the country, including both the severity of particular abuses and the range of human rights affected. The other criteria considered are: whether a deterioration or improvement in the human rights situation in the country would have a wider impact in the region; whether the human rights situation in the country has an impact on wider UK interests; and the level of UK activity and engagement in that country.

Iran

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring his Department will undertake of the forthcoming elections in Iran.

Alistair Burt: Iran has a duty to comply with its obligations under international law to protect its citizens' rights. The UK will be monitoring the Iranian elections through reports from our diplomatic network, international bodies, and media to see whether these obligations are met. The UK has no desire to interfere in the Iranian electoral process; we have made clear on many occasions that the Government of Iran is a matter for the Iranian people. The UK does not seek to change the Government of Iran. We shall continue to speak out against abuses of human rights in Iran, as we do for other countries around the world.

Iran

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on Iran.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has a regular dialogue with the EU High Representative on a range of issues, including Iran. They most recently discussed Iran at the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in London, on 10-11 April, where G8 Ministers reaffirmed their desire for a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the nuclear issue, and indicated that talks could not continue indefinitely.

Iraq

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any representative of the Government has visited (a) Camp Ashraf and (b) Camp Liberty in Iraq.

Alistair Burt: Our embassy in Baghdad monitors the situation at Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty closely, and officials from our embassy have visited both Camps. The most recent visit was in September 2012, when one of our officials accompanied an EU delegation to Camp Liberty.

Israel

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to (a) UEFA and (b) the government of Israel on (i) access to tickets and (ii) free movement across borders for football fans from the West Bank and Gaza during the UEFA under-21 football tournament in Israel in June 2013.

Alistair Burt: We have not raised these specific issues with the Israeli authorities or with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
	We do however remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of movement from the west bank and Gaza. Through our embassy in Tel Aviv, we frequently lobby the appropriate authorities on the issue of movement and access. We continue to work closely with the Quartet and EU partners, and to call on Israel to ease restrictions on access on all occasions including the UEFA Under-21 football championship, which will take place in Israel in June.
	We hope that the tournament will create opportunities to use football to break down barriers between Israelis and Palestinians.

Jordan

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the progress of the political reform agenda in Jordan.

Alistair Burt: We welcome the progress achieved during the January parliamentary elections. The EU Election Observation Mission, headed by David Martin MEP, similarly praised the technical improvements achieved to date, while making important recommendations on how to achieve political reform, including changes to the electoral system. We support these recommendations and encourage Jordan to maintain momentum on political reform.

Mongolia

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Mongolian government to ensure that UK-based companies will be awarded contracts in respect of the extraction of natural minerals in that country; and what steps he is taking to ensure that any such extraction is undertaken in a sustainable manner.

Hugo Swire: We are working hard to build a stronger trading relationship with Mongolia for the mutual benefit of both countries. The extraction of natural minerals in Mongolia is an important catalyst to Mongolia's economic growth and we have highlighted to the Mongolian Government the expertise that British companies offer in this area. In February, I met Tsagaan Puntsag, the Chief of Staff to the President of Mongolia, where I discussed this issue. I also hosted the biennial UK—Mongolia Round Table talks in November 2012 where I discussed with the Mongolian Deputy Foreign Minister Damba Gankhuyag commercial opportunities for both countries. Opportunities in Mongolia's extractive industries were an important part of these discussions. In order to promote further opportunities for UK companies in Mongolia, UKTI have recently opened an office in Ulaanbaatar to support UK firms doing business in a sustainable manner.

North Korea

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of allegations made by North Korea defector, Hwang Jang-yop, that Iran made available the blueprints of the Urenco uranium enrichment technology to North Korea in exchange for North Korean Nodong missiles.

Alistair Burt: North Korea supplies a range of conventional arms to customers worldwide and has supplied goods in support of ballistic missile programmes, including to Iran.
	We are unaware of any allegations made by Hwang Jang-yop of a nuclear connection between Iran and North Korea. In 2010, Hwang did report that North Korea had sold missiles to Iran, and we are aware that North Korea did indeed sell NODONG missiles to Iran in the 1990s. However, Hwang denied there had been a nuclear connection between the countries.

Official Hospitality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible claimed reimbursements for working lunches and official entertainment in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each such year.

Alistair Burt: (a) The Foreign and Commonwealth Office undertakes a vast range of activities to establish and maintain diplomatic contacts throughout our network of over 260 overseas posts, as well as diplomatic activity in the UK to promote British interests. This includes meetings and events hosted for political and business delegations (including those in support of UK Trade and Industry) which range in size from large trade delegations to small working lunches with key senior contacts. Any such spending is undertaken for business reasons and expenditure on hospitality is kept under close scrutiny to ensure value for money and effectiveness, in accordance with HM Treasury guidance.
	Total costs for business hospitality and official representation in the UK and our missions overseas were:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2012-13 8,816,318.72 
			 2011-12 8,206,034.33 
			 2010-11 7,840,245.44 
			 2009-10 9,115,834.45 
			 2008-09 10,188,722.93 
		
	
	As part of its commitment to transparency, the FCO publishes the business expenses and hospitality of its senior London-based staff. These include travel costs and are subject to detailed Cabinet Office and internal guidance and regular audit. Details can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-senior-staff-expenses-and-hospitality
	All FCO expenditure on Government Procurement cards is published online and can be seen at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-procurement-card-data
	(b) The FCO does not hold data for non-departmental public bodies. We have received the following responses:
	The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission have not incurred expenditure on entertainment costs. Expenses for the Foreign Compensation Commission, Wilton Park and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy are not recorded by expenditure type, but by project or event. They are therefore unable to segregate the working lunches element from other expenses relating to an individual project without disproportionate costs.
	FCO Services provided the following data:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2012-13 2,269.98 
			 2011-12 756.19 
			 2010-11 5,602.79 
			 2009-10 4,666.38 
			 2008-09 3,525.79 
		
	
	I will write to the hon. Member when the data are available for British Council and the Great China Centre and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Palestinians

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of current reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah.

Alistair Burt: We continue to follow closely developments regarding the issue of reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. The British Government's position, and that of the EU, remains that Palestinian reconciliation, if agreed on the basis of the principles set out by President Abbas in his speech of 4 May 2011, would be a positive step for the unity of a future Palestinian state and for reaching a two state solution.

Palestinians

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of political developments within the Palestinian Authority.

Alistair Burt: Dr Salam Fayyad resigned as Palestinian Prime Minister on 13 April 2013. Dr Fayyad made an outstanding contribution to Palestinian state-building, as Finance Minister then as Prime Minister. He was a close partner to successive British Governments and thanks to his dedication and energy, the Palestinian Authority took great strides forward in building the institutions necessary for a Palestinian state. Palestinian institutions are now stronger and more transparent. Despite serious economic constraints, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and UN last year all said that the Palestinian Authority has the capacity to be a functioning state in important sectors.
	This development is a reminder of the urgency of returning to negotiations on a two-state solution. We need to see a clear path leading to a viable, independent Palestinian state, based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, living in peace and security with Israel. The vital work of Palestinian state-building must go on. 2013 is a crucial year for middle east peace. The UK will continue to work the President Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu and US and EU partners, to urge the necessary progress.

Pay

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost to the public purse of the London location allowance was in each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: The FCO introduced the London location allowance in 2005. It is funded from savings made in the FCO's overseas allowances budget.
	The cost of the London location allowance in previous years has been:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2012-13 7,824,751 
			 2011-12 7,530,325 
			 2010-11 7,177,054 
			 2009-10 6,339,157 
			 2008-09 6,279,903 
		
	
	In the financial years 2005-06 to 2007-08 this allowance was included as part of the overall pay bill and it would incur disproportionate costs to separate it out.

Policy Programme Evaluation Board

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  how many times the Policy Programme Evaluation Board has met since its creation; and on what dates;
	(2)  what the names are of those who sit on his Department's Policy Programme Evaluation Board.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Policy Programme Evaluation Board has met five times since its creation and is due to meet again on Monday 29 April 2013. The previous meetings have been held on:
	27 July 2011
	9 November 2011
	29 February 2012
	17 May 2012
	14 September 2012
	The FCO Policy Programme Evaluation Board is Chaired by Ann Cormack, a Non-Executive. The Members are:
	David Lidington, Minister for Europe
	Barbara Woodward, FCO Director-General Economic and Consular
	Iain Walker, FCO Finance Director
	Julia Bond, Non-Executive
	Neil Wigan, Her Majesty's Ambassador Kinshasa
	Martin Harris, Her Majesty's Ambassador Bucharest
	Carolyn Miller, Non-Executive
	Department for International Development (DFID) representative (to be confirmed, following a change in personnel).

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Alistair Burt: The information is as follows.
	(a) The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) publishes this information in its annual reports and accounts. The FCO runs exit schemes in accordance with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. All schemes run across the civil service are approved by the Cabinet Office.
	The FCO has run a range of voluntary early exit schemes (Flexible Early Retirement and Flexible Early Severance). The current voluntary exit scheme has been in existence since December 2010. Under the reformed scheme, all costs fall within the year of departure. The NAO estimate that exits under the existing scheme cost around 40% to 50% less than under the previous compensation scheme. The reformed scheme also allows for greater distinction between voluntary and compulsory exits and is designed to encourage voluntary rather than compulsory departures.
	131 staff left the FCO in 2010-11 under the voluntary exit scheme, at a cost of £15.3 million. 118 of these left under the terms of the previous compensation scheme (under which costs could extend for up to 10 years from departure).
	89 staff left in 2011-12 under the voluntary exit scheme at a cost of £5.3 million.
	The method for calculating payments under the compensation scheme was modified between the publication of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 accounts. Although we ran early exit schemes in previous years, we do not have comparable data for these years. It would incur disproportionate costs to search individual files to determine exact numbers and cost.
	(b) The FCO does not hold data for non-departmental public bodies. We have received the following information:
	FCO Services:
	2010-11—£1,546,399, average £36,819 (42 officers left)—in the annual report 2010-11 £2.030 million (includes CILON, annual leave payments, additional pensions etc), see page 38 (text) and page 67 (detail).
	2011-12—£1,077,345, average £35,912 (30 officers left)—in the annual report 2011-12 £1.5 million (includes CILON, annual leave payments, additional pensions etc).
	Great Britain China Centre (GBCC) have not run any exit schemes. The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) ran a single exit scheme in 2009-10 at a cost of £116,000.
	I will write to my hon. Friend when the data are available for British Council and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Sexual Offences

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made by UK experts working in (a) Bosnia, (b) the Syrian border and (c) Libya as part of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative in each of the last six months.

Mark Simmonds: Each deployment of the UK Team of Experts (TOE) builds local capacity to prevent and respond to the problem of sexual violence in conflict and is designed to take account of the specific context in which the team operates. The UK TOE deployed to Bosnia in March to provide training to Bosnian judges and prosecutors to strengthen their capacity to prosecute and adjudicate wartime sexual violence crimes in accordance with international standards. In March, the team deployed to Libya where they assessed how the UK can provide further assistance in terms of building local capacity across police, justice and health services to support survivors of sexual violence. In December last year, the team deployed to the Syrian border to train Syrian health care professionals in how to respond to reports of sexual violence. Each deployment has also examined how the UK can further support each country and follow-up deployments are planned over the next 12 months.

Sexual Offences

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his goals are for (a) the UK Presidency of the UN Security Council and (b) the 67th session of the UN General Assembly in relation to the G8 Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Mark Simmonds: We will use the UK presidency of the Security Council in June and the 67th session of the General Assembly to build a wider global coalition behind the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative to overcome the political and practical barriers to tackling the culture of impunity for sexual violence in conflict. This will include garnering broad international support for the historic Declaration adopted by the G8 on 11 April 2013. This Declaration contains a number of UN specific G8 commitments, including the implementation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the deployment of women protection advisers in all UN peacekeeping and political missions and ensuring training of international peacekeepers on sexual violence issues. We will also use upcoming UN opportunities to develop the new international protocol on the investigation and documentation of sexual violence in conflict.

Sexual Offences

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which members of the UN Security Council he plans to discuss the G8 Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict in advance of the UK's presidency in June 2013.

Mark Simmonds: We will use the UK presidency of the Security Council in June to build a wider global coalition behind the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative to overcome the political and practical barriers to tackling the culture of impunity for sexual violence in conflict. This includes garnering the support of members of the Security Council for the historic Declaration adopted by the G8 on 11 April 2013. The Declaration was agreed by the three members of the G8 who are also members of the Security Council and we have shared the Declaration with all other council members. We will discuss it in more detail with them prior to our presidency in June.

Somalia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the security situation in Mogadishu.

Mark Simmonds: We keep the security situation in Mogadishu under constant review, including through monitoring and talking to key partners. We have seen important security gains made across Somalia in the last year and commend the commitment and bravery of African Union Mission to Somalia and Somali Government troops. However, security remains a serious concern. Recent gains are fragile and we strongly condemn the recent attacks in Mogadishu, which killed at least 28 people. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said that security is his top priority and we are supporting his Government to develop effective, professional and accountable security forces, including through the Somalia conference in London on 7 May.

Somalia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the government of Somaliland will be participating in the conference on Somalia in May.

Mark Simmonds: The UK very much hoped to see Somaliland Government Representatives at the Somalia conference. However, the Somaliland authorities have now responded formally to inform us that they will not be attending.

Somalia

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of Somalia on the prevention of sexual violence and securing justice for the victims of sexual violence.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has spoken to the Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud a number of times on this issue, most recently on 14 April. Prevention of sexual violence in conflict will be highlighted at the Somalia conference which the Prime Minister will co-host with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 7 May. We will seek commitments from those in attendance to tackle sexual violence in conflict in Somalia.
	We have also been working with the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura. She visited Somalia at the start of April and started a dialogue with the Federal Government of Somalia on combating sexual violence in conflict. We expect her team to visit in the summer to work with the Somali authorities on recommendations for combating sexual violence in Somalia and improving the justice system.

Syria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent decision taken by the Arab League to transfer the Syrian seat from the Assad regime to the Syrian opposition.

Alistair Burt: We are keen that the Syrian National Coalition's views are taken seriously in international forums, and are pleased that the Arab League has taken this action. This demonstrates the increasing credibility of the Coalition as a political organisation. It is also a welcome sign of the increasing support behind the Coalition in the region. Although international credibility is important, it is imperative for the Coalition to continue reaching out to and winning over ordinary Syrians on the ground and increasing its representation among minorities and women.

Syria

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Syrian refugees on the political reform agenda in Jordan.

Alistair Burt: We pay tribute to Jordan's role in hosting the rising numbers of Syrian refugees as the pressure on the Jordanian system grows unabated. With almost 2,000 refugees arriving daily, there are now over 400,000 refugees in the country. The UK is providing significant humanitarian assistance to support in this regard. We also continue to call on our international partners to fulfil their pledges of assistance and support Jordan in coping with the humanitarian crisis which impacts on Jordan both economically and politically. The scale of the international refugee crisis is a further reason why the violence in Syria must end urgently.
	Despite these external pressures parliamentary elections were held in January and following consultation with the new Parliament a new Prime Minister was appointed. We welcome the progress achieved during January's elections. The EU Election Observation Mission, headed by David Martin MEP, similarly praised the technical improvements achieved to date, while making important recommendations on how to achieve political reform, including changes to the electoral system. We support these recommendations and encourage Jordan to maintain momentum for political reform.

Syria

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment has been made of the effect on the Syrian economy of the civil war in that country.

Alistair Burt: Since the start of the conflict the Syrian economy has lost significant momentum as the economy has suffered from inflations, and substantial devaluation of the Syrian pound.
	Syrian families have faced hardship as the cost of living has increased. As government spending has become increasingly redirected to support the military effort, the provision of public services has become limited. The conflict has affected the livelihoods of average Syrians especially workers in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, where high unemployment and the loss of income has put further financial strain on individuals.
	This has resulted in increased dependence on informal networks and markets and migration to neighbouring countries for survival.

Zambia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the judiciary process in Zambia.

Mark Simmonds: The Zambian constitution and law provides for an independent judiciary. However, the judicial system is hammered by inefficiency and a lack of trained personnel and resources. Although the law requires that a detainee appear before court within 24 hours of arrest, detainees are routinely held for much longer periods. Trial procedures are reasonable, though many defendants cannot afford a lawyer. According to human rights groups there have been cases of arbitrary arrest and detention. We also understand that prison conditions can be harsh.

Zambia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the current (a) political and (b) security situation in Zambia.

Mark Simmonds: There was a peaceful transfer of power in Zambia in 2011 following the electoral victory of the Patriotic Front. While there is an active civil society in Zambia, much of the media is government-controlled. In February the opposition complained to the Commonwealth about government violations of democratic space; we regard some of the claims as exaggerated. Security is generally good, though there is some crime. For example, there is sometimes unruly behaviour at political rallies and during by-election campaigns and a Zambian died during a clash during a local election campaign in November 2012.

EDUCATION

16-19 Bursary Fund

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 118W, on 16-19 Bursary Fund: Barrow-in-Furness, what statistics on take-up of the 16-19 Bursary Fund are being collected centrally, including regional and demographic breakdowns.

David Laws: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Data covering 2012/13 and subsequent years are being collected through the School Census and Individual Learner Record covering the number of young people awarded discretionary and vulnerable group bursaries at each provider. This will not include the value of bursaries awarded.
	The data will enable regional and demographic breakdowns by age, gender and ethnicity if the data collected are of sufficient quality.
	Management information covering the number and value of vulnerable group bursaries and the number of discretionary bursaries awarded at a sample of providers in 2011/12 has been collected by the Education Funding Agency. This has provided national level statistics which we aim to publish in the first Independent Evaluation Interim Report in May 2013. This management information will also be collected in subsequent years.

Academies: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on what grounds he is able to revoke an academy funding agreement.

David Laws: The grounds for terminating an academy funding agreement vary depending on the specific clauses of the individual funding agreement. Academy funding agreements are available in the School Performance section of the Department's website.
	The latest model funding agreement allows the Secretary of State for Education to give seven years' notice of his intention to terminate the funding agreement. He can also terminate it:
	following the issue of a termination warning notice for example, on the grounds of unacceptable standards or a breakdown in governance or management;
	following a ‘special measures' or ‘requires significant improvement' judgment from Ofsted;
	if the academy is struck off the register of independent schools;
	in the case of insolvency (or serious risk of insolvency); or
	where there has been a change of control of the academy trust or the legal entity that controls it and he is not satisfied that the new person is suitable.

Academies: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what procedure his Department follows in investigating potential financial irregularities in academies; and upon which grounds the Education Funding Agency commences an investigation into potential financial irregularities in academies.

David Laws: Information relating to potential financial irregularities within academy trusts may arise from various sources, and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) determines its response depending upon the source of information as well as the nature of the complaint or allegation.
	Information could arise from:
	A review of an academy's financial returns by EFA staff;
	Information disclosed by the academy's external auditors;
	Management of the academy seeking advice (as to how a particular situation should be dealt with); or
	A complaint or whistleblowing allegation by a member of staff, parent or third party.
	In general terms, and depending on the nature of the information, the procedure would be as follows:
	The EFA would determine whether the information obtained related to a matter that was within its areas of responsibility. If the matter falls within the EFA's remit, the EFA would seek further information to establish whether there is substance to the matter which was thought to be of potential concern. This may involve a number of potential steps from a simple request to the academy to provide additional clarification to a more formalised review. Fact-finding has a number of potential outcomes. These include:
	Conclusion that there is no case to answer;
	Conclusion that the matter is immaterial and so no further action is required;
	Conclusion that the matter requires action on the part of the academy to remedy the situation; and
	Conclusion that the facts point to a situation where there may be further and more serious matters to be discovered. In these circumstances the EFA would commission a formal investigation. If the matter is an irregularity issue the case would be investigated by External Assurance, if it was clear that fraud had taken place the investigation would be undertaken by the Department's Internal Audit Investigation Team (IAIT).
	Where the IAIT receives a referral from the EFA and an investigation is appropriate, Terms of Reference are agreed with the EFA and the investigation would proceed. The overall responsibility for the work remains with the EFA. At the completion of the work, the IAIT produces a report for the EFA with recommendations. Where fraud has been found this may lead to police referral and recovery of funds.

Academies: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the Young People's Learning Agency's 2011-12 accounts and the National Audit Office report, Managing the expansion of the Academies Programme, published in November 2012, what steps he is taking to increase effective financial management and accountability in academies and free schools.

David Laws: The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has already taken steps to develop financial management and accountability in academies and free schools.
	A new financial handbook was published in September 2012, placing more emphasis on the role of the accounting officer, and is focused very clearly on the requirements of the academy trust.
	From 2011/12 academy trust accounting officers were required to sign a new statement relating to their responsibilities for regularity, propriety and compliance with the terms and conditions of their funding.
	This statement provides the basis for an enhanced regularity audit by academy external auditors, which tests propriety and regularity in the use of public funds. These audits began in autumn 2012 with an external audit regularity opinion included in the 2011/12 Statement of Accounts. This provides independent professional review.
	The EFA continues to place importance on building networks within the sector as a driver of improvement. It has established working groups with sector representatives including academies and auditors to develop the financial accountability framework.
	The Department's accountability system sets out a robust accountability framework for academies and free schools.
	In July 2012 the Department published academies' spend data at a per-pupil level on its website for the first time. It is continuing to explore how it can make this information more directly comparable with that provided for maintained schools, and it will be setting out the arrangements for providing additional academy level information as part of the accounting arrangements for 2012/13.
	As well as providing greater transparency, this is also aimed at sharing benchmarking information across the sector so that areas for improvement in financial management can be identified.

Academies: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the findings of the National Audit Office report, Managing the expansion of the Academies Programme, published in November 2012, if he will publish more detailed financial data for academies and free schools including (a) data that allow fuller comparison between academies and maintained schools and (b) fuller academy-level financial data.

David Laws: In July 2012, the Department for Education published academies' spend data at a per-pupil level for the first time. It is continuing to make them as directly comparable as it can. There are areas where data will not be directly comparable, such as where an academy receives funding for services which are provided free to maintained schools by the local authority.
	The audited financial statements prepared by academy trusts presently contain high level financial information on individual academies within multi academy trusts. The Education Funding Agency will consider how more financial information about individual academies can be made easily accessible and will be setting out the arrangements for providing additional academy level information as part of the accounting arrangements for 2012/13.

Academies: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) academies and (b) free schools were monitored by the Education Funding Agency as being at financial risk in each month since May 2010.

David Laws: Since being established on 1 April 2012, the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has been responsible for monitoring financial risk presented by academies and free schools. Academies and free schools are collectively risk-assessed on an ongoing basis. As free schools have academy trust legal status, the EFA does not distinguish between academies and free schools when considering those at risk. The number of those academies and free schools that were assessed as presenting a higher financial risk for each month since April 2012 are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 April 2012 34 
			 May 2012 34 
			 June 2012 34 
			 July 2012 34 
			 August 2012 34 
			 September 2012 34 
			 October 2012 34 
			 November 2012 36 
			 December 2012 36 
			 January 2013 37 
			 February 2013 45 
			 March 2013 46 
			 April 2013 44 
		
	
	It should be noted that within this period the number of academies has increased from 1,806 in April 2012 to 2,986 in April 2013. This means that the percentage of academies assessed as presenting higher financial risk has fallen from 1.9% to 1.5%.

Academies: Pay

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the salaries of the heads of each academy trust in the academic year 2010-11.

David Laws: Academy trusts are required to disclose information on the salaries of senior staff in their audited financial statements. These are published on the academy trust's website and are also available from Companies House. All academy trust accounts are also published annually on the Department for Education's website and accounts for 2010-11 were published in July 2012. Information about the salaries of senior staff contained within the 2010-11 financial statements has not been centrally collated and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which local authorities have signed up to the Care Leavers Charter to date.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The following 95 local authorities have so far agreed to sign up to the principles of the Care Leavers Charter:
	Barking and Dagenham London Borough
	Bath and North East Somerset Council
	Bournemouth Borough Council
	Bristol City Council
	Buckinghamshire County Council
	Cambridgeshire County Council
	Central Bedfordshire Council
	Cheshire West and Chester Council
	Cornwall County Council
	Cumbria County Council
	Derby City Council
	Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
	Barnet London Borough
	Bexley London Borough
	Bracknell Forest Borough Council
	Bromley London Borough
	Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
	Camden London Borough
	Cheshire East Council
	City of London
	Croydon London Borough
	Darlington Borough Council
	Derbyshire County Council
	Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
	Ealing London Borough
	Essex County Council
	Gloucestershire County Council
	Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough
	Harrow London Borough
	Hertfordshire County Council
	Isle of Wight Council
	Islington London Borough
	Kingston Upon Thames Royal Borough
	Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
	Lancashire County Council
	Leicester City Council
	Lewisham London Borough
	Manchester City Council
	Merton London Borough
	Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council
	North Somerset Council
	Northamptonshire County Council
	Nottinghamshire County Council
	Oxfordshire County Council
	Plymouth City Council
	Portsmouth City Council
	Redbridge London Borough
	Richmond Upon Thames London Borough
	Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
	Enfield London Borough
	Gateshead Council
	Hackney
	Haringey London Borough
	Hartlepool Borough Council
	Hounslow London Borough
	Isles of Scilly
	Kent County Council
	Kirklees Metropolitan Council
	Lambeth Council
	Leeds City Council
	Leicestershire County Council
	Luton Borough Council
	Medway Council
	Middlesbrough Council
	Norfolk County Council
	North Tyneside Council
	Northumberland County Council
	Oldham Council
	Peterborough City Council
	Poole Borough Council
	Reading Borough Council
	Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
	Salford City Council
	Shropshire County Council
	South Gloucestershire Council
	Staffordshire County Council
	Stockton on Tees Borough Council
	Suffolk County Council
	Surrey County Council
	Swindon Borough Council
	Tower Hamlets London Borough
	Waltham Forest London Borough
	Warrington Borough Council
	Wiltshire County Council
	York Council
	South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
	Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
	Stoke on Trent City Council
	Sunderland City Council
	Sutton London Borough
	Torbay Council
	Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
	Wandsworth Borough Council
	West Sussex County Council
	Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  which childcare settings each of his Ministers have visited in an official capacity since May 2010;
	(2)  which Sure Start children's centres each of his Ministers have visited in an official capacity since May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: The following tables shows Ministers’ official visits to childcare settings in England including to children's centres (Sure Start children's centres) since May 2010.
	
		
			 Children's centre Location Minister 
			 Marsham Street Children's Centre Westminster, London Nick Gibb 
			 Lemon Tree Children's Centre North Bransholme, Hull Sarah Teather 
			 Little Stars Children's Centre East Hull Sarah Teather 
			 Chapeltown Children's Centre Chapeltown, Leeds Elizabeth Truss 
			 Loughborough Children's Centre Brixton Elizabeth Truss 
		
	
	
		
			 Stonegrove Children's Centre Edgeware Edward Timpson 
			 Beaumont Leys Children's Centre Leicester Sarah Teather 
			 Bligh Sure Start Children's Centre Rochester Sarah Teather 
			 Clayton Sure Start Children's Centre Clayton, Manchester Sarah Teather 
		
	
	
		
			 Other childcare provision Location Minister 
			 Durand Academy Early Years Centre (On two separate occasions) Stockwell, London Elizabeth Truss 
			 Parkview Day Nursery Leicester Sarah Teather 
			 Church Street Nursery London Sarah Teather 
			 Marsham Street Community Nursery Westminster, London Elizabeth Truss 
			 Early Years Childcare Nursery Worthing Tim Loughton 
			 Greengables Nursery Sandhurst, Berkshire Tim Loughton 
			 Abbots Manor Community Nursery London Nick Gibb 
			 Pimlico Academy—breakfast club and out of hours provision Pimlico, London Elizabeth Truss 
			 Norwich Free School—out of hours provision Norwich Elizabeth Truss

Children: Internet

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to his Department's response to the consultation on parental internet controls, published in December 2012, what progress the Government have made in identifying and defining those children who are most at risk from accessing explicit internet material.

Edward Timpson: The UK Council for Child Internet Safety Evidence Group has been looking at vulnerable groups since January 2012, when it produced a paper “Identifying Vulnerable Children Online And What Strategies Can Help Them”. The group is now building on this work to develop a holistic model for predicting risk and vulnerability, and to develop professional guidance for timely interventions to prevent harm to children online.

Children: Poverty

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education in what form responses to the Government's consultation on Measuring Child Poverty will be published.

David Laws: The consultation on better measures of child poverty closed on 15 February and a large volume of responses was received.
	All responses will be read and analysed to ensure that all important points are captured and used to help Ministers decide on the next steps. The Government have not decided in what form our response will be published, but any response will be available on the Department's website.

Children’s Centres

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children's centres there were in each local authority in May 2010; and how many there will be in May 2013.

Elizabeth Truss: The following table shows the breakdown of children's centre numbers by local authority at April 2010. The table is based on information supplied by the local authorities.
	Local authorities continue to review, consult and reorganise their children's centre provision. The number of children's centres in May 2013 will be affected by those local decisions and is not something my Department would predict.
	
		
			 Region Local authority Number of designated children’s centres at 30 April 2010 
			 LON Barking and Dagenham 18 
			 LON Barnet 20 
			 YH Barnsley 19 
			 SW Bath and North East Somerset 11 
			 EE Bedford Borough 15 
			 LON Bexley 16 
			 WM Birmingham 75 
			 NW Blackburn with Darwen 13 
			 NW Blackpool 13 
			 NW Bolton 18 
			 SW Bournemouth 9 
			 SE Bracknell Forest 8 
			 YH Bradford 41 
			 LON Brent 19 
			 SE Brighton and Hove 15 
			 SW Bristol, City of 31 
			 LON Bromley 18 
			 SE Buckinghamshire 35 
			 NW Bury 14 
			 YH Calderdale 16 
			 EE Cambridgeshire 40 
			 LON Camden 17 
			 EE Central Bedfordshire 22 
			 NW Cheshire East 19 
			 NW Cheshire West and Chester 20 
			 LON City of London 1 
			 SW Cornwall 40 
			 WM Coventry 23 
			 LON Croydon 26 
			 NW Cumbria 28 
			 NE Darlington 7 
			 EM Derby, City of 18 
			 EM Derbyshire 54 
			 SW Devon 43 
			 YH Doncaster 21 
			 SW Dorset 23 
			 WM Dudley 20 
			 NE Durham 43 
			 LON Ealing 28 
			 YH East Riding of Yorkshire 20 
			 SE East Sussex 35 
			 LON Enfield 24 
			 EE Essex 85 
			 NE Gateshead 15 
			 SW Gloucestershire 39 
			 LON*** Greenwich 24 
			 LON Hackney 20 
			 NW Halton 8 
			 LON Hammersmith and Fulham 15 
			 SE Hampshire 81 
			 LON Haringey 19 
			 LON Harrow 16 
			 NE Hartlepool 8 
		
	
	
		
			 LON Havering 14 
			 WM Herefordshire 12 
			 EE Hertfordshire 82 
			 LON Hillingdon 17 
			 LON Hounslow 18 
			 SE Isle of Wight 8 
			 SW Isles of Scilly 1 
			 LON Islington 16 
			 LON Kensington and Chelsea 8 
			 SE Kent 96 
			 YH Kingston upon Hull, City of 20 
			 LON Kingston upon Thames 11 
			 YH Kirklees 32 
			 NW Knowsley 15 
			 LON Lambeth 29 
			 NW Lancashire 79 
			 YH Leeds 58 
			 EM Leicester, City of 23 
			 EM Leicestershire 41 
			 LON Lewisham 19 
			 EM Lincolnshire 48 
			 NW Liverpool 26 
			 EE Luton 23 
			 NW Manchester 40 
			 SE Medway 19 
			 LON Merton 11 
			 NE Middlesbrough 13 
			 SE Milton Keynes 20 
			 YH NE Lincolnshire 14 
			 NE Newcastle upon Tyne 18 
			 LON Newham 20 
			 EE Norfolk 54 
			 YH North Lincolnshire 12 
			 SW North Somerset 14 
			 NE North Tyneside 12 
			 YH North Yorkshire 37 
			 EM Northamptonshire 50 
			 NE Northumberland 20 
			 EM Nottingham, City of 18 
			 EM Nottinghamshire 58 
			 NW Oldham 16 
			 SE Oxfordshire 45 
			 EE Peterborough, City of 15 
			 SW Plymouth, City of 17 
			 SW Poole 8 
			 SE Portsmouth 16 
			 SE Reading 13 
			 LON Redbridge 22 
			 NE Redcar and Cleveland 12 
			 LON Richmond upon Thames 10 
			 NW Rochdale 16 
			 YH Rotherham 22 
			 EM Rutland 2 
			 NW Salford 16 
			 WM Sandwell 21 
			 NW Sefton 15 
			 YH Sheffield 36 
			 WM Shropshire 18 
			 SE Slough 10 
			 WM Solihull 14 
			 SW Somerset 41 
			 SW South Gloucestershire 15 
			 NE South Tyneside 12 
		
	
	
		
			 SE Southampton 14 
			 EE Southend on Sea 14 
			 LON Southwark 21 
			 NW St Helens 12 
			 WM Staffordshire 54 
			 NW Stockport 19 
			 NE Stockton on Tees 11 
			 WM Stoke on Trent 16 
			 EE Suffolk 48 
			 NE Sunderland 17 
			 SE Surrey 69 
			 LON Sutton 14 
			 SW Swindon 14 
			 NW Tameside 17 
			 WM Telford and Wrekin 13 
			 EE Thurrock 15 
			 SW Torbay 7 
			 LON Tower Hamlets 23 
			 NW Trafford 16 
			 YH Wakefield 23 
			 WM Walsall 18 
			 LON Waltham Forest 17 
			 LON Wandsworth 23 
			 NW Warrington 12 
			 WM Warwickshire 39 
			 SE West Berkshire 10 
			 SE West Sussex 49 
			 LON Westminster, City of 15 
			 NW Wigan 20 
			 SW Wiltshire 30 
			 SE Windsor and Maidenhead 10 
			 NW Wirral 16 
			 SE Wokingham 10 
			 WM Wolverhampton 18 
			 WM Worcestershire 34 
			 YH York, City of 9 
			  Total Number of CCs 3,631

Cwmcarn School

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 590W, what steps he plans to take following the publication of the Health and Safety Executive's report into asbestos at Cwmcarn high school in Wales.

David Laws: holding answer 27 February 2013
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently concluded its investigation into the asbestos related incident at Cwmcarn high school in Wales and wrote to the school governors and local authority with its findings on 26 February.
	The HSE investigation concluded that there are appropriate asbestos management arrangements in place at the school as required under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and that no enforcement action is required.
	As part of the investigation, the HSE asked the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) to conduct asbestos testing at Cwmcarn high school. The main aim of the HSL sampling and analysis at the school was to measure the release and transfer of airborne asbestos fibres into the classrooms. The report by HSL has also been provided to the school governors and the local authority and states that the sampling and analytical analysis carried out by HSL showed that there is no evidence for a quantifiable transfer of asbestos fibres from the ceiling void into the classrooms.
	The Department for Education has noted the outcome of the HSE investigation and HSL testing at Cwmcarn and has decided that no further action is required at this stage in response to this specific case.
	The Department continues to take the issue of managing asbestos in our schools very seriously and is pro-active in promoting good asbestos management in schools. It has published on-line guidance on managing the risks of asbestos, has established the Asbestos in Schools Steering Group to promote and raise awareness of asbestos management requirements and has asked the Committee on Carcinogenicity to consider and report upon the relative vulnerability of children to asbestos compared with adults. Alongside this, the Department liaises as necessary with the HSE as it is the lead regulator and enforces the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises such as schools.

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has a dementia strategy.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not have a specific dementia strategy.
	The Department encourages proactive line management of staff that are unwell and provides a range of options to support them. These include access to guidance, occupational health and employee assistance.

Educational Institutions: Inspections

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the grounds upon which, under section 126(1) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, Ofsted may decide to inspect (a) schools, (b) further education colleges and (c) sixth form colleges which were graded outstanding at their last inspection.

David Laws: Her Majesty's chief inspector retains the discretion to inspect any outstanding further education or sixth form college where he considers it necessary. The chief inspector regularly conducts risk assessments of outstanding providers to see if they are maintaining their high standards of performance and, where they are not, he may choose to inspect. The chief inspector may also inspect in cases where a college that is not required to be inspected requests an inspection and must inspect any outstanding institution at the Secretary of State's request.
	The grounds under which outstanding schools may be inspected are the same as the above but Ofsted's powers to inspect schools in those circumstances are provided by section 8 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended by section 40 of the Education Act 2011).

Free Schools

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many open free schools have been inspected by Ofsted; and how many such schools have received an inspection judgement of, requires improvement.

David Laws: 24 free schools opened in September 2011. To date, Ofsted have inspected and published reports for nine of these free schools. Of the nine, six free schools have been judged to be ‘Good’, and three have received a ‘Requires Improvement’ judgement.

Free Schools: Pay

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the salaries of the head teachers of each free school were in 2010-11.

David Laws: The first free schools did not open until September 2011. The salary of the head teacher once the free school is open will be included in the free school's first full set of accounts.

GCE AS-level

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the establishment of AS-levels as a stand-alone qualification on the ability of universities to consider applicant potential.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 4 March 2013
	We know that universities use a range of information and evidence about applicants for admissions purposes. Even within individual universities, there may be a variety of approaches between subjects. Changes to the AS and A-levels mean that some universities may need to make changes to admissions processes. However, Ofqual's consultation on A-level reform found that for many universities, the removal of AS would not have a major impact on selection processes.

GCE AS-level

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the establishment of AS-levels as a stand-alone qualification on the take-up of each subject currently taught to AS-level.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The AS will be retained as a standalone qualification to offer breadth. It is for schools to determine the number and range of AS qualifications they offer based on their own school's circumstances and the needs of their pupils.

GCE AS-level

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received from university bodies which support the establishment of AS-levels as a stand-alone qualification.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 4 March 2013
	I have discussed our plans for A-level reform with a wide range of organisations and individuals, including the Russell Group and Universities UK. These discussions and Ofqual's consultation showed widespread support for the AS-level, so we are retaining it as a standalone qualification to support breadth.

GCE AS-level

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed establishment of AS-levels as a stand-alone qualification on take-up of each subject at AS-level.

Elizabeth Truss: The AS will be retained as a standalone qualification to offer breadth. It is for schools to determine the number and range of AS qualifications they offer, based on their own school's circumstances and the needs of their pupils.

GCSE

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) average uncapped GCSE points score of pupils eligible for free school meals, (b) proportion of children eligible for free school meals who attained at least five GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and mathematics and (c) proportion of all children who attained at least five GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and mathematics in (i) London Challenge schools, (iii) City Challenge schools and (iii) all maintained secondary schools was in each year since the start of the London Challenge programme.

David Laws: The requested information for the academic years 2007/08 to 2011/12 is given in the table. Information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Average uncapped GCSE point score and percentage of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grade A*-C or equivalent including English and mathematics GCSEs(1) of pupils in London Challenge Schools(2), City Challenge Schools(3) and all state-funded secondary schools(4) by Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility. Years: 2007/08 to 2011/12 (revised)(5). Coverage: England(6) 
			  Pupils eligible for FSM All pupils(7) 
			 School type Number of eligible pupils(8) Average uncapped GCSE point score per pupil(9) Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C grades inc. English and mathematics GCSEs Number of eligible pupils(8) Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C grades inc. English and mathematics GCSEs 
			 London Challenge schools(2):      
			 2007/08 16,111 337.7 34.5 74,710 50.7 
			 2008/09 16,157 369.2 37.8 73,721 54.0 
			 2009/10 16,518 401.7 43.2 74,253 58.0 
			 2010/11 16,928 417.1 47.3 74,229 61.9 
			 2011/12 17,116 428.8 48.9 74,541 62.3 
			       
			 City Challenge schools(3):      
			 2007/08 8,430 301.7 22.0 48,075 44.2 
		
	
	
		
			 2008/09 8,270 333.4 24.7 45,403 47.2 
			 2009/10 8,187 377.3 30.5 44,600 53.3 
			 2010/11 8,159 402.1 34.8 43,611 57.3 
			 2011/12 8,152 410.7 36.0 43,227 58.3 
			       
			 All state-funded secondary schools(4):      
			 2007/08 74,360 303.7 24.0 595,806 48.4 
			 2008/09 74,035 336.0 26.7 576,420 50.9 
			 2009/10 76,949 372.3 31.4 575,970 55.3 
			 2010/11 78,796 394.3 34.7 564,863 58.4 
			 2011/12 79,788 405.5 36.4 559,093 59.0 
			 (1) Full GCSEs only have been included (full GCSEs, double awards, accredited international certificates and their predecessor iGCSEs and AS-levels). Figures from 2007/08 to 2008/09 exclude iGCSEs, 2009/10 figures onwards include accredited iGCSEs. (2) London Challenge schools include all inner and outer London state-funded schools (including academies and CTCs). (3) City Challenge schools include all state-funded schools (including Academies and CTCs) within the local authorities of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton in the ‘Black Country' and Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan in ‘Greater Manchester'. (4) Includes all England state-funded schools (including academies and CTCs) (5) Figures for 2007/08 to 2010/11 are based on final data, 2011/12 figures are based on revised data. (6) The figures in this table do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. (7) Includes pupils for whom free school meal eligibility could not be determined. (8) Pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in each academic year. (9) Total uncapped point score from GCSE and equivalents divided by the number of eligible pupils. Source: National Pupil Database (2007/08 to 2010/11) and Key Stage 4 attainment data (2011/12).

Languages: Primary Education

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria his Department used to identify the list of seven languages at Key Stage 2, one of which primary schools are required to teach.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 18 April 2013
	Subject to Parliament's approval, we intend to require maintained primary schools to teach all pupils at key stage 2 one of a list of prescribed languages from September 2014: French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin or Ancient Greek.
	Having a prescribed list of languages allows a balance between giving schools a variety of teaching options on the one hand, and maintaining continuity between primary and secondary language teaching on the other. We consulted on the question of which languages to prescribe and the proposed list broadly reflects the languages that primary schools indicated that they intend to teach. However, it does not restrict them unnecessarily, instead giving them a choice that extends to Mandarin, which is important economically, and Latin and Ancient Greek, which provide an important foundation to a number of modern languages, as well as covering the major European languages. The languages in the list comprise a sample of important languages that, each in its own right, give a good grounding for further languages study.

Orphans: Education

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 134W on orphans: education, what financial assistance his Department provides to orphans from the age of 16 who are not and have never been in the care of local authorities.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities have a general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need. Children who are orphaned will normally be considered children in need and have their needs assessed by the local authority. Many will come into the care system and receive the full range of support to which all looked after children are entitled. Others may continue to live with members of their wider family where this is assessed as being in their best interests.
	Local authorities do not provide income support, but in exceptional cases they can provide financial assistance to families where children are assessed as being in need. This could include for example small payments to cover subsistence in an emergency or for accommodation for families without access to public funds.
	Orphans aged 16 and 17-years-old are entitled to the same support as any other young person. This may include financial support through the 16 to 19 bursary for those in education, as well as benefits such as income support. In addition, where these young people remain with family or friends, the carers may be entitled to a range of support including benefits such as child benefit, subject to satisfying the relevant qualifying conditions.

Pay

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many staff in his private ministerial office received a performance-related bonus in the last two financial years.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 14 March 2013
	The following table shows the number of staff in the Secretary of State's office who received a non consolidated performance award in each of the last two financial years. Awards paid in the financial year relate to performance in the previous year.
	
		
			  Number of staff Number of staff who received a non consolidated performance award 
			 2011/12 12 6 
			 2012/13 13 7

Physical Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that children receive adequate instruction at school on how to maintain and improve physical fitness;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that children are given adequate physical fitness tests at school;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to ensure that children are informed of the benefits of competitive sport at school.

Edward Timpson: We recently announced additional ring-fenced funding of £150 million per annum for academic years 2013/14 and 2014/15 to support the provision of Physical Education (PE) and sport in state primary schools in England.
	PE is currently compulsory in the National Curriculum at all four Key Stages and will remain so after the current review. A draft programme of study for PE was published for consultation in February 2013. This makes clear that a high-quality physical education curriculum should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. We do not prescribe specific measures to help to achieve this as we believe that individual schools and teachers are best placed to address the particular needs of their pupils.
	The draft programme of study also reflects our belief that opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect, and it places far greater emphasis on the importance of competitive sport within and between schools.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Her Majesty's chief inspector have agreed that for all primary schools Ofsted inspectors will consider how well the school uses its additional funding to improve the quality and breadth of its PE and sporting provision.

Primary Education: Class Sizes

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils aged five, six or seven have been taught in classes of 30 or more in each local education authority area in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The number of pupils in state-funded mainstream primary schools in England, including information on class sizes, is published as part of the Statistical First Release ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012'. This is available on the Department's website
	(1)
	.
	The number and proportion of pupils in school years 1, 2 and 3 taught in class sizes of 31 or more in each local authority area in England have been placed in the House Libraries.
	(1) http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/a00209478/

Primary Education: Teachers

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of how many new primary teachers would been needed by 2014-15 to maintain current pupil teacher ratios.

David Laws: holding answer 22 April 2013
	No such estimate has been made.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has given consideration to using parental educational attainment as the basis for the allocation of the pupil premium rather than free school meals.

David Laws: The Pupil Premium is allocated to schools at the rate of £900 for each child who is either known to have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any time during the past six years (known as the “Ever6 basis”), or who has been looked after continuously in public care for more than six months during the year. The total annual investment in this priority for the Government will rise to £2.5 billion in 2014-15.
	The Government consulted in June 2010 on the appropriate allocation methodology for the Pupil Premium, and we published our conclusions before the 2011-12 financial year. In that year, Pupil Premium was allocated on the basis of current eligibility for FSM; the Ever6 basis was then introduced from 2012-13. Our report, published on 13 December 2010 following the consultation, set out our rationale. We consulted on the merits of different indicators as a basis for the distribution of the Pupil Premium, and FSM was chosen because it is the only pupil-based indicator nationally available.
	The link between FSM eligibility, both current and recent, and under-achievement is very strong, and there is overwhelming evidence that pupils eligible for FSM generally have lower educational attainment outcomes than their peers. While there is also a strong link between other characteristics and under-achievement, such as parental educational attainment, a school's ability to identify eligible pupils easily and objectively using a nationally recognised measure is very important in enabling them to claim the necessary funding and to deliver the educational interventions that their pupils require. FSM- based measures fulfil these criteria more closely than other approaches.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) national and (b) regional average spend on pupils is in (i) England and (ii) Barnsley Central constituency.

David Laws: holding answer 23 January 2013
	Figures are not available for the parliamentary constituency of Barnsley Central as data are collected at a local authority level. The available information for 2010-11 on the national and local revenue expenditure on pupils in England and Barnsley local authority is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Primary education Secondary education Special schools Total (excluding pre-primary) 
			 England 4,040 5,250 21,170 4,760 
			 Barnsley LA 4,150 5,020 19,110 4,620

Schools: Co-operation

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what grants have been allocated via the £35 million school collaboration incentive outlined in the Schools White Paper 2010.

David Laws: The Department has made no allocations using the model originally envisaged in the White Paper. Collaboration is, however, fundamental to the work of Teaching Schools. Teaching Schools are required to establish alliances of schools with which they work directly to provide: school based initial teacher training, school to school support, research and development activity and continuous professional development. Teaching schools also work with others to develop new school leaders and can designate and deploy specialist Leaders of Education.
	National Leaders of Education also work collaboratively with other schools. They use the resources of their own schools to support others. Local Leaders of Education provide direct support to the leadership to support school improvement.

Schools: Finance

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the value is of the successful grants given by the Education Endowment Fund to date; and if he will place in the Library a complete list of all bids made and successful recipients.

David Laws: The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent grant making charity established in 2011. The main aims of the EEF are to raise the attainment of children facing disadvantage by:
	identifying promising educational innovations that address the needs of disadvantaged children in primary and secondary schools in England;
	evaluating these innovations to extend and secure the evidence on what works and can be made to work at scale;
	encouraging schools, government, charities, and others to apply evidence and adopt innovations found to be effective.
	The Department entered a Grant Funding Agreement which established the EEF for a minimum of ten years, with a single initial grant of £125 million so far. The charity has funded 56 successful projects, including eight new projects announced in March 2013, at a value of £28.7 million covering both primary and secondary schools. So far over 1,800 schools and 300,000 pupils have been involved in projects funded by the EEF. The knowledge gained from these projects will be shared with all schools.
	The successful grants and their individual and total value are shown in the following table. The Department does not maintain records of any unsuccessful bids.
	
		
			  £ 
			 Durham University 766,945 
			 ARK 774,000 
			 Future Foundations 930,339 
			 Tutor Trust 263,000 
			 PATHS 90,000 
			 Bristol University 1,600,184 
			 Campaign for Learning 550,154 
			 Challenge Partners 961,778 
			 Hampshire County Council 141,000 
			 The Schools Network 396,750 
			 Anglican School Partnership 110,760 
			 Catch Up 184,900 
			 University College London 736,546 
			 Oxford Trust 270,750 
			 Plymouth Parent Partnership 1,022,471 
			 Portsmouth University 368,460 
			 Sapere 304,000 
			 SHINE Trust 510,175 
			 Achieve Together 1,800,192 
			 The Learning Trust 310,237 
			 Creative futures 415,000 
			 How to Thrive 687,000 
			 Innovation Unit 906,000 
			 Primary Writing Project 121,000 
			 School21 382,000 
			 Success for All 1,410,000 
			 Book Trust 218,414 
			 Calderdale Excellence Partnership 395,850 
			 Catch Up 424,626 
			 Coventry University 397,314 
			 Discover 240,652 
			 Dyslexia Action 390,206 
			 Real Action 457,980 
			 SHINE Trust 455,800 
			 Success for All (Quest) 726,112 
			 North Tyneside Council 520,064 
			 Unitas 480,953 
			 University College London 525,000 
			 University of Exeter 338,752 
			 CUREE 550,347 
			 Bolton Council 393,570 
			 Norfolk Council 148,217 
			 Adamsrill Primary School 78,755 
			 Nottingham Council 70,575 
			 Perry Beeches 306,000 
			 Greenford High School 148,110 
			 Fresh Start Aggregated Trial 353,065 
			 Thornaby Academy 146,880 
			 Chess in Schools and Communities 689,150 
			 The Communications Trust 967,780 
			 The Curriculum Centre 147,848 
			 Edge Hill University 543,425 
			 Oxford University 489,471 
			 Let's Think Forum 639,485 
			 Private Equity Foundation 254,624 
			 Catch 22 596,087 
			  28,708,753

Schools: Inspections

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have requested an Ofsted inspection since Quarter 3 2011.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Sir Michael Wilshaw, dated 15 April 2013
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	Since 1 October 2011, Ofsted has received 24 requests for an inspection from schools.
	The Education Act 2011 provides Her Majesty's Chief Inspector (HMCI) with a power to charge for the cost of a school inspection in response to a request from ‘the appropriate authority’ of a school, and where HMCI is not required to inspect the school routinely. This power took effect from February 2012. No school has yet been charged for the cost of an inspection under these provisions.

Schools: Pendle

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the level of literacy and numeracy of (a) primary and (b) secondary school leavers in Pendle constituency in each of the last five years.

David Laws: The information requested is provided in the following tables.
	
		
			 Primary school leavers. Achievements at the expected level(1) by pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 in Pendle parliamentary constituency(2). Years: 2008-12(3). Coverage: Pendle constituency(4) 
			 Percentage of KS2 pupils achieving expected level in 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012(5) 
			 English 78 74 * 76 81 
			 Maths 74 74 * 72 80 
			 * = Figures have been suppressed as they are unrepresentative due to industrial action. (1) Includes pupils who achieved Level 4 or above. Level 4 is the expected level of achievement for pupils at the end of Key Stage 2. (2) Parliamentary constituency figures are based on the postcode of the school. (3) Data are final data for academic years 2008 to 2011, 2012 is based on revised data. (4) Includes state-funded schools including academies. Figures do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. (5) In 2012, English was calculated from reading test results and writing teacher assessment rather than from reading and writing tests as in previous years. English in 2012 is, therefore, not comparable to previous years. Source: National Pupil Database 
		
	
	
		
			 Secondary school leavers. Percentage of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 achieving A*-C grades in English and mathematics GCSEs(1) in Pendle constituency(2). Years: 2007/08 to 2011/12(3). Coverage: Pendle constituency(4) 
			 Percentage of KS4 pupils achieving an A*-C grade in 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 English 51.1 51.8 57.7 64.1 56.2 
			 Maths 48.9 48.6 55.1 57.2 62.5 
			 (1) Full GCSEs only have been included (full GCSEs, double awards, accredited international certificates and their predecessor iGCSEs and AS-levels). Figures from 2007/08 to 2008/09 exclude iGCSEs, 2009/10 figures onwards include accredited iGCSEs. (2) Parliamentary constituency figures are based on the postcode of the school. (3 )Data are final data for academic years 2007/08 to 2010/11, 2011/12 is based on revised data. (4) Includes state-funded schools including academies. Figures do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. Source: National Pupil Database (2007/08 to 2010/11) and Key Stage 4 attainment data (2011/12)

Schools: Sports

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools participating in his Department's next recent physical education and school sport survey reported that (i) fewer than 20 per cent and (ii) more than 80 per cent of pupils had participated in (A) any competitive intra-school sport and (B) regular competitive intra-school sport.

Edward Timpson: The most recent survey of pupils' participation in physical education and sport in school covered the academic year 2009/10 and was published in September 2010. This survey reported the overall proportion of pupils who participated in competitive intra-school sport; including those who participated in any such competitive activities, and those who participated regularly. These figures are not broken down to school level. A copy of the survey has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Schools: Standards

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils attend schools that have been judged by Ofsted to be inadequate or requiring improvement by local authority.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Lorraine Langham, dated 22 April 2013
	Your recent Parliamentary Question has been passed to Ofsted for response. I am replying on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector.
	Since 2005, maintained school inspections have been carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 and, more recently, the Education Act 2011. Under section 5, Ofsted inspects maintained schools (nursery, primary, secondary and special schools and pupil referral units), state-funded independent schools such as academies and certain non-maintained special schools in England.
	The number and proportion of pupils attending schools inspected at 31 December 2012 that have been judged as 'satisfactory / requires improvement' or ‘inadequate', by local authority, have been provided in table 1. The ‘requires improvement' judgement was introduced in September 2012, replacing ‘satisfactory'. For completeness, the number and proportion of pupils at schools judged to be ‘outstanding' or ‘good', by local authority, are also provided.

Schools: Transport

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many education providers were consulted before the Guidance on home-to-school travel and transport was published in March 2013.

David Laws: A working group of four local authority home-to-school transport practitioners and two road safety policy officials from the Department of Transport were consulted on the appeals element of the guidance. The local authority practitioners represented the Rural Access to Learning Group, the Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers, and Road Safety GB.

Schools: Transport

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department's guidance on home-to school-travel and transport published in March 2013 on schools with larger catchment areas;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department's guidance on home-to-school travel and transport published in March 2013 on schools in areas of sparse population density;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department's guidance on home-to-school travel and transport published in March 2013 on schools of a religious character.

David Laws: The revised statutory guidance published in March 2013 is designed to reflect the Government's commitment to reducing bureaucracy, and to allow local authorities to reach their own solutions to local issues, following the usual practice of consulting with schools and interested parties, without the burden of overly prescriptive guidance.
	The guidance provides a summary of the statutory obligations placed upon local authorities, none of which have changed since the revisions introduced by the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Given that the regulations have not changed it is not our intention to carry out an impact assessment.

Schools: Transport

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils have benefited from subsidised home to school transport in the last three years for which figures are available.

David Laws: The Department for Education does not collect this data. Local authorities will collect this data to inform their budgetary allocations, but they are not under a duty to report pupil numbers to the Department.

Sixth-form Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) schools and (b) academies have opened new sixth form provision in each of the last three years; and how many such sixth forms were graded (i) inadequate or (ii) satisfactory by Ofsted at their last inspection.

David Laws: holding answer 26 March 2013
	The Department for Education through the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has funded new sixth forms at schools and academies over the last two years as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2011/12  
			 New school sixth forms 24 
			 New academy sixth forms 33 
			   
			 2012/13  
			 New school sixth forms 19 
			 New Academy sixth forms 18 
		
	
	The EFA does not have records of new academies' sixth forms prior to 2011.
	Of these 94 schools and academies with new sixth forms, Ofsted have recorded 60 inspections since September 2011(1). Inspections taking place after January 2012 do not include a separate grade for school and academy sixth forms but do include commentary in the body of the inspection report.
	The Ofsted judgments of the overall effectiveness of these schools and academies, and the separate commentary about their sixth forms (where made) are set out in the following table:
	(1) See Ofsted website:
	http://www.Ofsted.gov.uk/resources/official-statistics-maintained-school-inspections-and-outcomes
	
		
			  Overall Ofsted school/academy inspection judgment Sixth form commentary (where made) 
			 Outstanding 11 Outstanding—6 
			   Good—1 
			   No commentary—4 
			    
			 Good 18 Good—9 
			   No commentary—9 
			    
			 Requires improvement/satisfactory 18 Good—4 
			   Requires improvement/satisfactory—6 
			   No commentary—8 
		
	
	
		
			 Inadequate 6 Good—1 
			   Requires improvement/satisfactory—2 
			   No commentary—3 
			    
			 Total (1)53 53 
			 (1) Seven academies received a ‘monitoring inspection' as part of an ‘academy initiative'—this resulted in a letter and no grades were given.

Teachers

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to plan future teacher supply requirements on an (a) local and (b) national basis.

David Laws: holding answer 22 April 2013
	National teacher supply requirements are estimated each year by the Teacher Supply Model (TSM). This model takes into account any future growth (or decline) in pupil numbers, pupil-teacher ratios within schools, and any policy changes that may affect, for example, the number of specialist (secondary) subject teachers needed. In addition, the TSM also forecasts the number of experienced teachers entering or leaving the profession as a result of retirement or career change. Collectively, these factors are used to determine the number of new teachers it is necessary to train in order to supply the workforce needs of our schools. We initially allocated 34,791 initial teacher training (ITT) places for the 2013/14 academic year(1).
	Local teacher supply needs are addressed through the allocation of these ITT places among a growing number of ITT providers and schools located across England. There are now more than 240 higher education institution-led and school-centred providers of ITT (including 38 new school-led providers accredited in the last 12 months) and more than 800 schools leading School Direct school partnerships, who are seeking to meet local supply needs. The allocation of ITT places is also informed by a range of market information based on geographic patterns in newly-qualified teacher employment, existing teacher workforce levels and teacher vacancies.
	(1) ITT places for HE and school-centred ITT providers for the academic year 2013/14 can be found at the following location:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/initial/b00204256/itt-funding-and-allocations/allocations.
	The 2013/14 allocations are subject to changes and final numbers for 2013/14 will be published shortly after the end of the academic year.

Teachers: Industrial Disputes

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the potential number of parents likely to be affected by the teachers' strike expected in June 2013.

David Laws: Any strike action by teachers will disrupt pupils' education and inconvenience a significant number of parents. We will be assessing the likely impact on schools, pupils and parents of any strike action by the NUT and the NASUWT, including the strike they have announced in the North West of England on 27 June. However, at this stage, it is too early to estimate with any accuracy the exact number of parents likely to be affected by this strike, which is over two months away.

Teachers: Qualifications

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers in secondary schools are teaching subjects in which they do not have a (a) degree, (b) A-Level and (c) O-Level/GCSE at C or above.

David Laws: The latest information on the proportion of secondary school teachers teaching subjects in which they do not have a degree or higher is shown in the following table, which is table 13 of the “School Workforce in England: November 2011” statistical first release.(1)
	Information on how many secondary school teachers do not have A or O-levels in the subject they teach is not collected centrally.
	(1 )Available at the following link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/recentreleases/a00205723/school-workforce-in-england-provisional-nov-2011
	
		
			 Highest post A-level qualifications(1, 2) held by publicly funded secondary school teachers (head count) in the subjects(3) they taught to year groups 7 to 13 in 2011, November 2011, England 
			  Highest level of qualification(1) held in a relevant subject(3, 4) 
			  Degree or higher(5) Bachelor of Education Postgraduate Certificate of Education Other qualification(6) Any relevant post A-level qualification No relevant post A-level qualification Total head count 
			 Subject(3) % ± CI(7) % ± CI(7) % ± CI(7) % ± CI(7) % % Thousands 
			 Mathematics 45.4 ± 0.8 7.1 ± 0.4 18.2 ± 0.6 2.2 ± 0.2 72.9 27.1 35.2 
			 English 63.1 ± 0.7 4.5 ± 0.3 9.1 ± 0.4 1.7 ± 0.2 78.3 21.7 38.8 
			                 
			 Physics(8) 56.1 ± 1.9 3.0 ± 0.7 6.3 ± 1.0 0.8 ± 0.3 66.3 33.7 5.9 
			 Chemistry(8) 65.8 ± 1.6 2.4 ± 0.5 6.2 ± 0.8 0.6 ± 0.3 75.0 25.0 6.9 
		
	
	
		
			 Biology(8) 76.0 ± 1.2 3.8 ± 0.5 5.7 ± 0.7 0.8 ± 0.3 86.3 13.7 8.5 
			 Combined/General science(8) 80.4 ± 0.6 4.8 ± 0.3 4.9 ± 0.3 1.3 ± 0.2 91.4 8.6 34.7 
			 Other Sciences(8) 77.7 ± 2.1 3.5 ± 0.9 4.4 ± 1.0 1.4 ± 0.6 87.0 13.0 2.8 
			                 
			 History 61.7 ± 1.1 3.1 ± 0.4 6.6 ± 0.6 0.9 ± 0.2 72.3 27.7 16.6 
			 Geography 57.4 ± 1.2 3.3 ± 0.4 5.9 ± 0.6 1.0 ± 0.2 67.5 32.5 14.9 
			                 
			 French 51.3 ± 1.2 4.1 ± 0.5 16.7 ± 0.9 1.3 ± 0.3 73.4 26.6 15.3 
			 German 52.4 ± 2.0 2.1 ± 0.6 10.7 ± 1.3 1.0 ± 0.4 66.2 33.8 5.5 
			 Spanish 33.6 ± 2.1 1.6 ± 0.6 10.6 ± 1.4 1.0 ± 0.5 46.9 53.1 6.8 
			 Other Modern Languages 25.0 ± 3.3 0.4 ± 0.5 7.7 ± 2.0 1.0 ± 0.8 34.0 66.0 3.3 
			                 
			 Design and technology(9) 51.8 ± 1.1 14.8 ± 0.8 9.6 ± 0.7 5.4 ± 0.5 81.6 18.4 14.8 
			 Electronics/Systems and Control(9) 55.5 ± 3.6 16.6 ± 2.7 7.9 ± 2.0 3.3 ± 1.3 83.3 16.7 1.3 
			 Food Technology(9) 42.5 ± 2.0 16.3 ± 1.5 9.6 ± 1.2 8.0 ± 1.1 76.4 23.6 5.3 
			 Graphics(9) 59.5 ± 2.1 14.1 ± 1.5 10.5 ± 1.3 3.0 ± 0.7 87.1 12.9 3.9 
			 Resistant Materials(9) 56.6 ± 1.9 16.4 ± 1.5 10.0 ± 1.2 4.5 ± 0.8 87.5 12.5 4.5 
			 Textiles(9) 58.6 ± 2.3 10.3 ± 1.4 9.0 ± 1.4 4.9 ± 1.0 82.8 17.2 3.3 
			 Other/Combined Technology(9) 48.7 ± 1.1 13.9 ± 0.8 9.5 ± 0.6 4.6 ± 0.5 76.7 23.3 16.8 
			 Engineering 16.4 ± 5.2 0.9 ± 1.3 0.8 ± 1.2 1.0 ± 1.4 19.0 81.0 1.6 
			 ICT(10) 26.4 ± 1.3 2.0 ± 0.4 8.9 ± 0.8 0.6 ± 0.2 37.9 62.1 18.6 
			                 
			 Business/Economics 51.8 ± 1.5 4.8 ± 0.6 4.6 ± 0.6 1.1 ± 0.3 62.2 37.8 11.1 
			 Religious Education(11) 33.0 ± 1.4 3.1 ± 0.5 7.6 ± 0.8 1.0 ± 0.3 44.7 55.3 16.5 
			                 
			 Music 73.3 ± 1.4 4.9 ± 0.7 4.6 ± 0.6 2.1 ± 0.4 84.9 15.1 8.0 
			 Drama 39.2 ± 1.6 3.0 ± 0.6 6.0 ± 0.8 1.5 ± 0.4 49.7 50.3 11.6 
			 Art and design 70.1 ± 1.1 5.3 ± 0.5 7.8 ± 0.6 1.3 ± 0.3 84.5 15.5 13.9 
			 Media Studies 15.4 ± 2.5 0.7 ± 0.6 2.4 ± 1.1 0.3 ± 0.4 18.8 81.2 6.6 
			                 
			 Physical education 56.0 ± 0.8 15.7 ± 0.6 6.8 ± 0.4 1.5 ± 0.2 80.0 20.0 26.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Citizenship 3.9 ± 1.9 0.1 ± 0.3 2.4 ± 1.5 0.2 ± 0.4 6.5 93.5 10.0 
			 (1) Where a teacher has more than one post A-level qualification in the same subject, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (degree or higher) to right (other qualification). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a Degree. (2) Not including qualifications in special educational needs provision. (3 )Teachers are counted once against each subject which they are teaching. Head counts are used, so a teacher teaching French and German would be counted once in each. (4 )A full list of what was deemed as a ‘relevant' qualification subject for each curriculum subject taught can be found in the SFR home page, November 2010 at http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000997/index.shtml (5 )Includes Doctorates and other level 8 qualifications, Masters and other level 7 qualifications (e.g. Post Graduate certificates and diplomas), first degrees (excluding BEds) and other level 6 qualifications (e.g. graduate certificates and diplomas). (6 )Includes Certificate of Education, non-UK qualifications where the level was not provided and other qualification at National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 4 or 5 and above e.g. diplomas or higher education and further education, foundation degrees, higher national diplomas and certificates of higher education. (7) Confidence intervals have been calculated around the proportions as not all schools were able to submit curriculum information, and not all qualifications returns were complete. Qualifications information was either not provided, or the subject field was missing for 12% of the teachers in schools submitting curriculum data. The confidence intervals show the statistical accuracy for the data, and give a range within which we can be reasonably sure (95% certain) that the true value actually lies. (8)Teachers qualified in biology, chemistry, or physics are treated as qualified to teach both combined/general science and other science. (9 )Teachers qualified in each of the specialist design & technology subjects are treated as qualified to teach other/combined design & technology. (10 )Information & Communication Technology is abbreviated as ICT. (11 )Includes philosophy. Notes: 1. Percentages are row percentages, and based on the number of teachers for whom curriculum and qualifications information was provided. 2. Numbers rounded to the nearest 100 and numbers below 50 are shown as nil or negligible. * = Not applicable. — = Nil or negligible. 3. Totals may not appear equal to the sum of the component parts because of rounding. Source: School Workforce Census

Teachers: Recruitment

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made toward establishing Teach Next; how many recruits have come into the profession by this route; and how many people he expects to have been recruited by this route by September 2013.

David Laws: Teach First was asked to establish a “Teach Next” programme aimed at attracting high quality career changers with a recruitment target of 200 in total by September 2013. In the 2011 pilot year 68 career changers were recruited. In 2012, the first full year of the programme, 106 career changers were recruited. To date, Teach First has recruited 121 career changers to the 2013 cohort that will commence training this September, so they are on course to recruit 295 career changers compared to the target of 200.

Teachers: Training

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many initial teacher training applications were made in each subject and phase in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2012-13 to date.

David Laws: Information on the number of applications made through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) and School Direct (2012/13 only) for all post graduate Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programmes that awarded qualified teacher status (QTS) in England for academic years 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2012 to 28 February 2013 are in Table A. Other ITT routes are available but records of applications via these routes are not held centrally.
	
		
			 Table A: Applications for post graduate ITT 
			 Subject 2009/10 2010/11 2012/13 
			 Art 1,740 1,400 900 
			 Biology 1,780 1,710 880 
			 Business Studies 1,510 1,050 350 
			 Chemistry 1,130 1,370 860 
			 Citizenship 570 450 110 
			 Classics 100 100 100 
			 Combined and General Science 1,470 590 50 
			 Design and Technology 1,830 1,050 300 
			 Drama 1,180 1,100 1,050 
			 Economics 20 10 20 
			 English 4,330 4,090 3,160 
			 Env/Rural Science 20 0 0 
			 French 870 640 290 
			 Geography 1,190 1,080 620 
			 Geology 10 10 0 
			 German 210 200 90 
			 History 1,850 1,890 2,090 
			 Home Economics 150 110 20 
			 Information Technology 1,620 1,000 — 
			 Computer Science — — 200 
			 Italian 20 10 10 
			 Mathematics 4,040 3,600 1,980 
		
	
	
		
			 Music 1,050 740 480 
			 Other 190 280 330 
			 Other Modern Languages 730 820 1,130 
			 Physical Education 3,300 3,390 3,700 
			 Physics 720 850 450 
			 Primary 23,870 24,670 23,340 
			 Religious Education 1,400 1,020 480 
			 Russian 0 10 0 
			 Social Studies 530 450 260 
			 Spanish 370 310 190 
			 Total 57,790 53,970 43,430 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and include some applications which were subsequently withdrawn. 2. For 2012/13 ICT has been replaced in England by Computer Science as an ITT course so the figures are not directly comparable. 3. Applications for 2012/13 are correct to 28 February 2013. 4. Some applications for postgraduate ITT courses are made independently of the GTTR and School Direct and are not included in the figures. 5. Membership of the GTTR and engagement with School Direct changes between years, therefore the number of accredited ITT providers covered in this table varies from year to year. 6. The applications are shown against the year in which they were made; applicants would be expected to commence training in the following academic year. 7. Applications are counted for providers in England where at least one application was made to GTTR or School Direct. Individual applicants can place more than one application, and so the number of applicants may be smaller. Duplication of applicants between GTTR and School Direct has been removed and figures for School Direct only applications have been added to 2012/13 figures. Source: GTTR and for 2012/13 School Direct Application Portal.

Teachers: Training

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when his Department plans to publish an evaluation of the School Direct programme; and which organisations he has asked to undertake that review.

David Laws: holding answer 22 April 2013
	We are currently considering whether to commission a formal external evaluation of School Direct.

Teachers: Training

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many applicants there have been for School Direct places starting in September 2013; and how many such applicants have been accepted on to courses.

David Laws: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The National College for Teaching and Learning will be publishing data on how many applicants there have been for School Direct places starting in September 2013 shortly.

Teachers: Veterans

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many members of the armed forces have (a) been recruited to the Troops to Teachers programme and (b) had their PGCEs funded by his Department.

David Laws: holding answer 17 April 2013
	The new Troops to Teachers (TtT) programme has not yet been launched; we expect to make an announcement within the next couple of months. Between May 2011 and 10 April 2013 the rate at which service leavers have been applying to teacher training courses has been increasing. During this period, 322 service leavers have applied to teacher training courses, of which 132 have been accepted so far.
	Through the Troops to Teachers programme, there will be opportunities for both graduates and non-graduates, subject to eligibility criteria, to train and enter the teaching profession via school-based routes. We have further plans to encourage eligible graduate service leavers to use existing teacher training routes. From September 2013, the School Direct programme will allow eligible graduate Service Leavers to retrain to become teachers, and they will be offered additional incentives (either financial or through additional premium training personalised to their needs).

Vetting

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department takes when notified that a legally required referral in relation to a regulated activity has not been made to the Disclosure and Barring Service; and whether there is a length of time after which his Department would not take action.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 22 April 2013
	If my Department were to be informed of such allegations about named individuals and named employers, my officials would notify the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). It would make no difference when we were informed. If an organisation removes an individual from working closely and regularly with children, because of harm or a risk of harm, it must make a referral to the DBS. If it fails to do so without good reason, it is committing an offence under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. If the DBS had evidence that such an offence may have been committed, it would inform the police.

Visits Abroad

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department's budget was for overseas travel for officials and Ministers in 2012-13.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education does not allocate budgets at this level of financial detail. As part of the transparency agenda, the Department publishes a quarterly return on its website which includes details of overseas travel.(1)
	(1)http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmentalinformation/transparency/b0065263/ministers-quarterly-returns

Vocational Guidance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether Ofsted plans to amend its inspection frameworks in order to issue a specific grade in (a) school, (b) further education college and (c) sixth form college inspections relating to the standard of careers advice secured under section 29 of the Education Act 2011.

David Laws: holding answer 18 April 2013
	This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Sir Michael Wilshaw, dated 16 April 2013
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	There are no plans to make a specific graded judgement on the quality of careers guidance in respect of the school inspection framework and the common inspection framework. However, in the common inspection framework, which applies to Further Education colleges, sixth-form colleges and independent learning providers, inspectors are required to consider how well learners develop an understanding of careers and progression opportunities, and their ability to benefit from training and development opportunities in reaching judgements for outcomes for learners.
	In the school inspection framework, inspectors must assess how well leaders and managers ensure that the curriculum promotes successful progression to the pupils' next stage of education, training or employment. Ofsted intends to amend its school inspection framework from September so inspectors take greater account of the quality of careers guidance in respect of reaching a judgement on the effectiveness of a school's leadership and management.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy Companies Obligation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of energy companies obligation contracts allocated by his Department have been allocated to (a) small businesses, (b) medium businesses and (c) large companies.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The energy company obligation (ECO) places a carbon reduction obligation on the largest GB energy supply companies.
	What contracts energy companies enter into to deliver their ECO obligations is a commercial matter for them. DECC has no responsibility for the allocation of contracts under ECO.

Hotels

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in his (a) Department and (b) non-departmental public bodies stayed in hotels in (i) the UK and (ii) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change's expenditure on hotel costs is as follows:
	
		
			 £000 
			   2008-09(1) 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13  
			 Core DECC UK 123 226 188 238 108 
			  Overseas 147 633 432 343 272 
			  Total Core DECC 274 859 620 581 380 
			 NDPBs UK (2)40 (2)31 847 742 1,133 
			  Overseas — — 45 40 56 
			  Total NDPBs 40 31 892 782 1.189 
			 (1 )2008-09 expenditure relates to the period from October 2008, as that is when DECC was established. (2 )The Coal Authority is the only NDPB that were able to provide information for 2008-09 and 2009-10. The majority of expenditure in subsequent years is incurred by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. 
		
	
	It is not possible, from the data available on the Department's system, to identify the number of officials who incurred these costs. As it is not possible to disaggregate the individual costs, the 20 highest hotel expenses cannot be established without incurring disproportionate cost.

North Sea Oil

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what local content requirements exist for offshore development at the Rosebank oil field.

Michael Fallon: The Department is actively engaged with Chevron to ensure that we maximise opportunities for UK content in the Rosebank development. This is part of our work with all licensees operating in the UKCS to ensure that they are aware of the capability of the UK supply chain and afford fair opportunities to bid for contracts under EU procurement laws.

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created in October 2008 so the following information is from that point onwards.
	
		
			 Core DECC 
			  2008-09 (£000) 2009-10 (£000) 2010-11 (£000) 2011-12 (No. of officials) 2011-12 (£000) 
			 DECC 0 0 0 8 506 
			 Total 0 0 0 8 506 
		
	
	
		
			 NDPBs 
			  2008-09  2009-10 2010-11  2011-12  
			  No of officials £000 £000 No of officials £000 No of officials £000 
			 NDA 5 104 0 68 4,325 1 82 
			 CNPA — 0 0 — 0 — 0 
			 CA — 0 0 33 1,805 — 0 
			 CCC — 0 0 — 0 — 0 
			 Total 5 104 0 101 6,130 1 82 
		
	
	The above information has been published as part of our 2011-12 Annual Resource Accounts. The information can be found in table 7.3 on page 118:
	http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48452/5718-decc-annual-report-and-accounts-201112.pdf
	The figures for 2012-13 will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts which is due to be laid before Parliament in July 2013.
	All voluntary exits that are included in this answer have been taken to include all non-compulsory departures.
	The civil service compensation scheme was reformed in 2010. Under the previous terms there could be costs extending for up to 10 years from a departure while under the reformed scheme all of the costs fall within the year of departure.
	NAO have estimated that under the reformed scheme, exits cost around 40-50% less than the previous compensation scheme in place before the 2010 general election. The reformed scheme allows for greater distinction between voluntary and compulsory departures.

Scotland

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what (a) external organisations and (b) individuals his Department engaged with as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at each such meeting;
	(2)  how many members of his Department's staff have been allocated to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; and at what cost to the public purse;
	(3)  what meetings he or his officials have had with the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling) as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at each such meeting;
	(4)  what work his Department has commissioned by external consultants in relation to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; which consultants were used; and at what cost to the public purse.

Gregory Barker: Department of Energy and Climate Change Ministers and officials engage with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Inevitably devolved issues and the Scottish Independence debate are addressed in many of these meetings. Meetings held or attended by DECC Ministers are routinely published on gov.uk:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations
	No meetings have taken place with the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling) as part of the Scotland Analysis programme and no external consultants have been commissioned by DECC to work on this programme.
	No staff in the DECC are working exclusively on the Scotland Analysis programme which has been taken forward as part of the Department’s broader work on devolved issues (coordinated by a team of 2.5 FTEs). Any costs are being funded from existing departmental budgets in the normal way as part of the Department's ongoing policy programme.

Wind Power

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department keeps records of the (a) number and (b) location of all (i) current and (ii) planned onshore wind turbines in the UK.

Michael Fallon: Applications for onshore wind developments over 50 MW in England and Wales are considered by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change the Department retains details of their location and scale.
	Applications for all other onshore wind developments (that require planning permission) are considered by local planning authorities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the Scottish Government. DECC gathers and holds records of those onshore wind farms that are operational, consented and in the planning system. Details of all these UK onshore wind farms can be found on the Renewable Energy Planning database at:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract
	DECC and Ofgem also record the numbers and location of schemes accredited under the Great Britain feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme. These will also include any smaller-scale developments that are not in the planning system. For schemes accredited on FiTs, DECC produces a summary table of the number of onshore wind installations by local authority and parliamentary constituency area at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/sub-regional-feed-in-tariffs-confirmed-on-the-cfr-statistics
	Similarly, there may be some schemes accredited on the renewables obligation (RO) that are not in the planning system; a list of RO accredited stations can be found at:
	https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0

Wind Power

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has made projections of the proportion of renewable energy made up by onshore wind turbines in the UK.

Michael Fallon: The 2009 renewable energy directive sets a target for the UK to achieve 15% of its energy consumption for heat, electricity and transport from renewable sources by 2020.
	The renewable energy roadmap sets out the amount of onshore wind we anticipate will be deployed, based on operational capacity, and projects in the current pipeline. This is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/68637/7382-uk-renewable-energy-roadmap-update.pdf

Wind Power

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what onshore wind energy generation capacity (a) was installed, (b) had gained planning consent and (c) was seeking planning permission on 1 April 2013. [R]

Michael Fallon: The Department operates the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) which tracks all renewable developments, including onshore wind, through the planning system
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract
	The REPD is updated monthly with the latest version being to the end of March.
	The figures from REPD show:
	
		
			  MW 
			 Operational 5747.28 
			 Under construction 2058.53 
			 Awaiting construction 5007.05 
			 Planning submitted 6148.74

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what records his Department keeps of the (a) number and (b) location of all (i) current and (ii) planned offshore wind turbines in the UK.

Michael Fallon: The Department maintains the renewable energy planning database (REPD) that tracks all renewable energy projects, including offshore wind, through the planning system. This database provides, amongst other things, details on the installed capacity of the developments and actual site location:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract
	The Crown Estate has published a number of maps showing the locations of current offshore wind farms and potential future offshore wind farms. These are publicly available and can be found at:
	http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/energy-infrastructure/downloads/maps-and-gis-data/

CABINET OFFICE

10 Downing Street

Diane Abbott: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much 10 Downing street spent on (a) cosmetics, (b) maintaining the Downing street gardens and (c) pre-organised events and receptions in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date.

Francis Maude: There has been no expenditure on cosmetics. Spending on maintaining the Downing street gardens for 2009-10 and 2010-11 was agreed under the previous Administration. The figures are: £56,027 for 2009-10 and £49,060 for 2010-11. The cost of maintaining the gardens for 2011-12 was £47,321.
	Figures for 2012-13 will be available once the Cabinet Office accounts for that year have been published.
	Information on official and charity receptions held at 10 Downing street is published annually.
	The latest information can be found on the Cabinet Office website. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Conditions of Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were working (a) on full-time contracts, (b) on part-time contracts, (c) on zero-hour contracts and (d) in a self-employed capacity in each parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were working (a) on full-time contracts, (b) on part-time contracts, (c) on zero-hour contracts and (d) in a self-employed capacity in each parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years. (152385)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS), following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Estimates of the number of zero hour contracts are not available from this source.
	Due to small sample sizes estimates of the number of self-employed people in each constituency is also not available. As an alternative table 1 shows the number of people in self-employment for the UK and each region, according to APS survey responses during for the 12 month period ending December 2012, the latest available period, along with estimates for the 12 month periods ending in December for 2008 to 2011.
	Tables 2 and 3 show the number of people in full-time or part-time employment, according to APS survey responses, for each parliamentary constituency in Great Britain for the 12 month period ending December 2012, the latest available period, along with estimates for the 12 month periods ending in December for 2008 to 2011. Estimates for parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland are not available. As these data are quite extensive a copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the tables. Due to the size of the tables, they will be stored in the library of the house.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Electronic Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the volume and success of phishing emails purporting to come from Government sites.

Chloe Smith: The Government takes cyber security extremely seriously which is why we are investing £650 million over four years to respond to threats from cyberspace and bolster the UK's cyber defences.
	We do not keep statistics centrally of how many phishing messages purport to come from Government sites. Millions are sent via the Internet every month. HMRC recently published an assessment of the number of new phishing websites set up at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/level-tax-playing-field.pdf
	Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud and internet crime reporting centre, has been enhanced to provide a reporting mechanism for online fraud including phishing. In addition, the Government supports initiatives such as Get Safe Online:
	www.getsafeonline.org
	to provide information and advice to people on how to avoid becoming a victim of phishing attacks.

Government Procurement Card

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card.

Francis Maude: Guidance has been published in the HM Treasury's website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/government_spend280211.pdf

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what criteria are used in (a) his Department and (b) each public body for which he is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Francis Maude: Since 2010-11 the Government have restricted performance related payments for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (from 65% in previous years), saving the taxpayer around £15 million.
	In my Department and the public bodies for which I am responsible, the criteria used to determine which officials receive end of year bonus payments are based on annual individual performance following relative assessment against one's peers and drawing from the feedback of Ministers where appropriate.
	Individual officers within my Department and each public body are also eligible for in-year bonus payments which reward and recognise exceptional, significant or valuable achievements outside of an officer's agreed objectives.

Suicide

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people committed suicide in the UK in 2012.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people committed suicide in UK in 2012. (152947)
	Figures are only available for deaths registered by 31 December 2011. In 2011 there were 6,045 suicides registered in the UK.
	ONS reports suicide statistics using the number of deaths registered rather than deaths that occurred in each calendar year. In England and Wales all suicides are certified by a coroner following an inquest. The death cannot be registered until the inquest is completed, which can take many months or even years. ONS is not notified that a death has occurred until it is registered, unless the coroner adjourns an inquest while awaiting prosecution in a higher court. The latest statistical bulletin showed that the median registration delay for suicides was 158 days in England and Wales in 2011.
	In Northern Ireland all suicides are certified by a coroner, and cannot be registered until the coroner has completed an investigation. The median registration delay for suicides was 157 days in Northern Ireland in 2011.
	In Scotland a death must be registered within eight days. The Procurator Fiscal has a duty to investigate all sudden, suspicious, accidental, unexpected or unexplained deaths and any death occurring in circumstances that give rise to serious public concern, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry may follow. If the results of toxicological tests or a post mortem are not yet known, the cause of death can be given as “unascertained, pending investigations”, and the actual cause of death will be entered at a later date. Therefore National Records of Scotland (NRS) receive notification of suicides more quickly than ONS. In 2011 the average registration delay for suicides in Scotland was just seven days, although the death may not have been registered as a suicide initially.
	Figures for suicides in the United Kingdom, England and Wales for deaths registered between 1981 and 2011 are published annually on the ONS website. The latest statistical bulletin also includes analysis of the impact of registration delays on UK suicide statistics:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-29400
	Figures for suicides in Scotland for deaths registered between 1974 and 2011 are available from the General Register Office for Scotland's website:
	http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/deaths/suicides/index.html
	Figures for suicides in Northern Ireland for deaths registered between 1970 and 2011 are available from the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency website:
	http://www.nisra.gov.uk/demography/default.asp31.htm

Termination of Employment

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies have left that body due to (i) resignation, (ii) retirement, (iii) redundancy, (iv) transferral to another public sector post and (v) another reason in each of the last five years.

Francis Maude: The following table sets out figures for staff leaving the Cabinet Office and its non-departmental public bodies:
	
		
			 Cabinet Office main Department 
			 Leaving reason 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Resignation 44 36 66 49 58 
			 Retirement 10 17 22 8 15 
			 Redundancy 0 1 9 0 11 
			 Transfer to OGD 170 190 170 194 258 
			 Other 59 66 117 131 55 
			 Total 283 310 384 382 397 
		
	
	
		
			 Cabinet Office NDPBs 
			 Leaving reason 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Resignation 10 14 14 18 27 
			 Retirement 5 2 5 0 0 
			 Redundancy 4 4 4 92 4 
			 Transfer to OGD 7 4 4 3 8 
			 Other 7 11 21 13 4 
			 Total 33 35 48 126 43

Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many officials in his (a) Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies travelled on (i) domestic and (ii) international flights in each of the last five years; in which class categories; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest airfare charges in each such year;
	(2)  how many officials in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office travelled on (a) domestic and (b) international flights in each of the last five years; in which class categories; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest airfare charges in each such year;
	(3)  how many officials in his (a) Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies stayed in hotels in (i) the UK and (ii) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year;
	(4)  how many officials in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office stayed in hotels in (a) the UK and (b) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year.

Francis Maude: To drive up efficiency this Government have established a new central contact for travel arrangements and an online booking system.
	As was the case under the previous Administration, officials may travel on departmental business. Those travelling on Government business should always consider the business case for their travel and work to minimise unnecessary expenditure.
	Since the general election, this Government have significantly increased the transparency around how we spend public money, including on travel. Details of overseas travel by all Ministers are published quarterly, alongside all spend by Departments over £25,000 and over £500 on Government Procurement Cards. We are exploring how we can extend our transparency arrangements to cover senior officials' travel.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Consultants

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department and its arm's length bodies have saved on (a) consultancy costs and (b) contingent labour since May 2010.

Brandon Lewis: My Department and its arm’s length bodies have made significant reductions to spending on consultancy costs and contingent labour, illustrating the scope for sensible savings in the public sector.
	
		
			 Consultancy costs 
			 £ million 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 DCLG Central 36.6 13.6 4.3 
			 Arm’s length bodies* 30.0 2.3 0.6 
			 Total 66.6 15.9 4.9 
			 * Methodological notes: 1. The figure for 2009-10 consultancy spending by arm’s length bodies is as given in the answer of 14 July 2010, Official Report, column 756W, in turn, which was based on the 2009-10 Public Sector Procurement Expenditure Survey. Spending from 2010-11 is based on general ledger basis, rather than the public sector procurement expenditure survey. 2. Subsequently, a number of these bodies have been abolished, and figures are not available for the period from 2010-11 up to their abolition. That said, abolished organisations are, of course, no longer spending taxpayers' money. 3. Overall, our arm’s length bodies reform is on track to deliver expected running costs of £231 million over the spending review period and since May 2010, 11 bodies have closed and two transferred to other Government Departments, up to the end of 2011-12. Of these administrative savings £173 million relate to bodies which have closed. In addition, the Government offices for the regions have also been abolished. 4. We received a nil return from the Building Regulations Advisory Committee. 
		
	
	For the core Department, the bulk of the 2010-11 spending on consultancy costs was contractually committed under the last Administration, including consultancy on the last Administration's failed FireControl programme.
	Contingent labour
	Contingent labour has been interpreted as temporary and agency staff; use of such staff for short-term or specialist work can be better value for money than hiring staff on permanent contracts.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 DCLG Central 14.4 4.6 2.9 
			 Arm’s length bodies 19.3 8.3 8.1 
			 Total 33.7 12.9 11.0 
		
	
	The bulk of the arm’s length body spending is by the Audit Commission (£6.7 million in 2011-12), reflecting its outsourcing to external audit contractors.

Correspondence

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the references, dates and subject matters are of letters written by Ministers in his Department to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley since 1 February 2013.

Brandon Lewis: Since 1 February 2013, DCLG Ministers have written 10 letters to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley. References, dates and subject matters are in the following table:
	
		
			 DCLG Ref Your ref Letter date Subject 
			 ER/BL/003971/13 JAMH22777 11 February 2013 Normal pension age for firefighters 
			 ER/ER/005184/13 JAMH22811 25 February 2013 Unanswered parliamentary questions 
			 N/A N/A 28 February 2013 Social housing: Role of designated persons in complaints handling 
			 MP/002872/13 JAMH22709 6 March 2013 Rent increases 
			 N/A N/A 14 March 2013 High streets update 
		
	
	
		
			 2014 Elections N/A 26 March 2013 Proposals for moving the date of local elections to the same date as European parliamentary elections in 2014 
			 N/A N/A 27 March 2013 Revocation of the Regional Strategy for the West Midlands 
			 ER/BL/012354/13 JAMH23175 18 April 2013 Council tax 
			 N/A N/A 19 April 2013 Making it easier for families to improve their home 
			 T/BL/012055/13 JAMH23183 22 April 2013 JSA claimants entitlement to council tax support

Fire Services

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of chief fire officers opposed to proposals to permit the spinning out of fire brigades from fire authorities.

Brandon Lewis: The Government have made no such assessment. All decisions on service delivery are made by individual fire and rescue authorities. I have set out my position on supporting locally-led mutuals in my answer on 7 March 2013, Official Report, column 1121W.

Fire Services

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library all responses to the letter sent by his Department dated 21 November 2012 as part of a pre-consultation about proposals to permit the spinning out of fire and rescue services from fire authorities.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 18 March 2013, Official Report, columns 476-77W.
	In addition I have set out my position on mutuals in my answer on 7 March 2013, Official Report, column 1121W, and I also refer the hon. Member to the copy of my letter deposited in the Library of the House further to the answer of 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 579W.

High Street Review

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of the actions recommended by the Portas Review have been taken forward by his Department.

Mark Prisk: The Mary Portas Review made 28 recommendations about what Government, local authorities, businesses and communities could each do to help high streets to be vibrant and successful. The Government published our response to the Portas Review on 30 March 2012, accepting 27 of the 28 recommendations. There are many success stories of how communities are now developing innovative solutions to develop their high streets. We published an update in our “Future of the High Street” on 25 March at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-of-high-streets
	In addition, I have established the Future High Streets Forum. The Forum brings together leaders across retail, property, business, academics, voluntary sector, civil society and Government to better understand the competition town centres across the country face and to drive forward new ideas and policies to help revive the high street. Full details of the Future High Street Forum can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/policy-advisory-groups/future-high-streets-forum

Homelessness

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent by his Department on preventing and tackling homelessness in each of the last five years.

Mark Prisk: The following table sets out the total amount of Homelessness Prevention Grant funding allocated to local authorities over the last five years.
	
		
			 Preventing homelessness funding 
			 Local authorities £ 
			 2009-10 51,434,870 
			 2010-11 52,257,370 
			 2011-12 81,500,000 
			 2012-13 81,500,000 
			 2013-14 80,000,000 
		
	
	The Homelessness Prevention Grant totals provided above are the baseline figures and exclude funding that has previously been rolled into the grant to cover local court desk provision and under-occupancy and tenancy fraud and additional funding provided in year.
	On top of the baseline grant we provided an additional £32,180,342 over two years (2009-10 and 2010-11) to help authorities meet homelessness pressures in their area and in 2011-12, we provided an additional £18,620,000 for authorities to tackle single homelessness. More recently we invested an additional £1,700,000 over two years (2012-13 to 2013-14) in a new scheme to support local authorities to deliver a ‘Gold Standard' homelessness prevention service.
	We have also provided £17,358,000 in 2009-10 and £19,000,002 in 2011-12 to help authorities prevent repossessions.
	We are also providing £42,500,000 capital funding under the Homelessness Change programme over three years (2011-12 to 2014-15) which falls under the Affordable Homes programme.
	From the 1 April 2012, affordable housing funding for London has been devolved to the Mayor of London. This includes £12,760,000 capital funding for the Homelessness Change programme.

Homelessness

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many people aged (a) between 16 and 24 and (b) over 24 in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK have been accepted as homeless in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) south Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have been recorded as homeless in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of homeless young people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each of the last five years.

Mark Prisk: The following table shows the number of homelessness acceptances of households in England and by Gateshead and South Tyneside councils in each year from 2005, broken down by age category and by the two priority need categories that relate specifically to young people.
	
		
			 Number of households accepted(1) as owed a main homelessness duty during the year: 2005 to 2012 
			   By applicant's age  By priority need category 
			  Year Aged 16-24 Over 24 Total Applicant aged 16 or 17 years old Applicant formerly “in care”, and aged 18 to 20 years old 
			 England 2005 (2)— (2)— 100,170 8,040 930 
			  2006 31,230 45,630 76,860 5,980 760 
			  2007 26,200 38,770 64,970 4,580 630 
			  2008 23,030 34,480 57,510 3,710 610 
			  2009 16,690 25,100 41,780 2,490 510 
			  2010 15,480 26,920 42,390 1,660 550 
			  2011 17,050 31,460 48,510 1,370 690 
			  2012 17,220 36,230 53,450 1,110 700 
			 Gateshead 2005 (2)— (2)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			  2006   581 19 0 
			  2007 199 -462 661 14 3 
			  2008 151 369 520 7 1 
			  2009 117 256 373 5 2 
			  2010 77 202 279 1 6 
			  2011 46 116 162 0 0 
			  2012 49 173 222 0 0 
			 South Tyneside 2005 (2)— (2)— 309 21 2 
			  2006 123 156 279 14 0 
			  2007 103 150 253 7 0 
			  2008 81 133 214 2 0 
			  2009 53 123 176 2 0 
			  2010 74 143 217 1 0 
			  2011 94 229 323 6 2 
			  2012 113 198 311 2 2 
			 (1) Households eligible under homelessness legislation, found to be unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category, and consequently owed a main homelessness duty (2) Figures were not collected. (3) Not reported by the local authority. Source: DCLG P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly) 
		
	
	The Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness's second report ‘Making every contact count’, focuses on preventing homelessness and stresses the importance of supporting vulnerable young people to make a successful transition to adulthood. It champions a model of a ‘positive youth accommodation pathway' for those who cannot stay within the family network or are leaving care and we are now working with authorities and voluntary sector organisations to promote the pathway. The report can be obtained from the Department's website at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-every-contact-count-a-joint-approach-to-preventing-homelessness
	We are investing £470 million over four years (2011-12 to 2014-15) on homelessness prevention and also invested an additional £1.7 million over two years (2012-13 to 2013-14) in a new scheme to support local authorities deliver a ‘Gold Standard’ homelessness prevention service to stem future increases in statutory homelessness and rough sleeping.

Housing

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much has been top-sliced from local government funding in each region of the UK to fund the new homes bonus in each year since the scheme began; and how much has been returned to local authorities in each region of the UK in new homes bonus payments each year;
	(2)  how much was top-sliced from the funding given to each local authority to fund the new homes bonus in each year since its introduction; and how much each local authority received through the new homes bonus in each such year.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The full amount of the new homes bonus for 2011-12 was met from Department for Communities and Local Government funding, with no local government top-slice. For each of the years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, £250 million was allocated to the new homes bonus from Department for Communities and Local Government funding. Funding beyond these levels comes from Formula Grant.
	In 2012-13, £176 million was transferred from Formula Grant to fund the new homes bonus. In 2013-14, £418 million is being transferred. This funding is transferred prior to the calculation of formula funding. The amount of grant that has been top-sliced at an authority or regional level is therefore not available. The Local Government Finance settlement does not operate on a regional basis.
	Allocations of new homes bonus by local authority have been placed in the Library of the House at the time of announcing final allocations in each year. This Department no longer publishes statistics at a regional level, I refer the hon. Member of 18 September 2012, Official Column, columns 32-33WS. The new homes bonus does not operate on a regional basis.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to guarantee a tenancy agreement allowing pet ownership for those wanting to downsize due to changes to housing benefit.

Mark Prisk: Most social landlords set out their pet policies in their tenancy agreements and will allow residents to keep pets where it is appropriate to do so. The circumstances in which pets may be kept is however properly for landlords to determine locally, taking account of the views of their tenants, rather than a matter for prescription by central Government.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's consultation on revision of Part L of Building Regulations, March 2012, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) the heat pump market, (b) taxation levels, (c) jobs and (d) progress towards the UK's carbon dioxide reductions targets of reducing the annual carbon dioxide saved from new homes from 23 to 8 per cent.

Don Foster: An assessment of carbon dioxide savings, the regulatory impact on business and competition issues were included in the impact assessment published alongside last year's consultation on revisions to Part L of the Building Regulations in England. This can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/8390/2076716.pdf
	Following the Budget commitment to provide zero carbon homes from 2016, the Government will announce our decision on changes to Part L of the Building Regulations by May 2013. A final proposal stage impact assessment will be published.

Immigration

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate the research commissioned by his Department entitled, Identifying social and economic push and pull factors for migration to the UK by Bulgarian and Romanian nations made of the annual number of future immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Further to the written statement of 10 October 2011, Official Report, column 3WS, the report has been available in the public domain since October 2011.
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120104120950/http://communities.gov.uk/archived/general-content/corporate/researcharchive/volume8immigration/
	This analysis was commissioned by the last Administration and should be treated with some caution; the research document was not peer-reviewed; and some of the groupings used in the analysis contain small numbers that are based on a sample survey. The right hon. Member will wish to draw his own conclusions on its contents.

Local Government Finance

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of (a) the criteria by which the future financial settlement for local authorities and English regions should be determined and (b) the desirability or otherwise of replacing the Barnett Formula by a needs-based allocation of government finances that takes into account variable divisions of expenditure between the regions of England.

Brandon Lewis: The 2013-14 Local Government Finance settlement provides information on the basis of the calculation of funding for English local authorities, the first under the new business rates retention scheme. The settlement marks a fundamental change in the way in which local government is funded so councils that strive to grow their business rates will find themselves rewarded with increased revenue. We have abolished regional government in England, and the local government finance system operates on a local, not regional basis. The defunct government office regions are arbitrary lines on a map.
	As set out in the coalition programme for Government, the Government recognises concerns expressed about the system of devolution funding. However, at this time the priority remains the reduction of the deficit left by the last Administration and therefore any consideration of change to the system must await the stabilisation of the public finances.

Local Government Finance

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information his Department holds on the (a) total level of debt and (b) annual payments on debt interest per local authority in England (i) excluding and (ii) including the Housing Revenue Account in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mark Prisk: I have today placed in the Library of the House a table showing, for each local authority in England:
	(a) total external debt as at 31 March 2012;
	(b) total external interest payments and interest payments where directed to the Housing Revenue Account for 2012-13.
	These data are as reported to the Department for Communities and Local Government on the annual capital outturn return and the revenue account budget form. DCLG does not hold separate debt figures for the housing revenue account. The figures for interest payments directed to the housing revenue account can include interest paid in respect of internal borrowing from the authority's other accounts. DCLG does not hold information on interest payments charged to the housing revenue account prior to 2012-13.

Local Government: ICT

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he will bring forward measures to allow town and parish councils to (a) make online payments and (b) send agendas electronically.

Brandon Lewis: Having consulted on proposals to use a legislative reform order to remove the statutory obstacles to parish councils making online payments, we expect to announce shortly how we intend to proceed. We also intend to announce how, through secondary legislation, we will remove any doubts about councils' ability to send agendas electronically.

Lost Property

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he could provide a list of the property stolen in his Department since May 2010; and what the value of such stolen property was.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 694W.
	There are were nine other assorted items stolen in that stated period, worth £770.

Mortgages

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many private residential mortgage accounts for properties in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK were in arrears for more than 90 days in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many private residential mortgage accounts for properties in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK were in arrears in each of the last five years.

Mark Prisk: The Department does not produce statistics on the number of mortgages that are in arrears. The Council of Mortgage Lenders does, however, publish statistics on the number of UK mortgages that are in arrears as part of its Regulated Mortgage Survey, which can be found on their website. It does not, however, publish separate arrears figures for geographical areas within the UK, such as regions, parliamentary constituencies or local authority areas.
	Mortgage arrears are calculated in terms of the balance in arrears and how many monthly payments this represents. At the end of 2012, 97,200 UK mortgages were between three to six monthly payments in arrears. This is its lowest level since 2008, and 30,500 fewer mortgages in arrears than the peak seen in the first quarter of 2009.
	At the end of 2012, there were a total of 215,700 UK mortgages more than three monthly payments in arrears. This is lower than any of the four years preceding it, and significantly fewer than the peak of 275,800 in 2009.
	
		
			  Total UK mortgages more than three months in arrears at end of year 
			 2008 219,000 
			 2009 275,800 
			 2010 247,500 
			 2011 225,600 
			 2012 215,700 
		
	
	The Government are helping homeowners in difficulty—including those with high levels of arrears—by tackling the record deficit inherited from the last Administration to prevent a rapid increase in interest rates hitting struggling households.
	We are committed to working closely with lenders, debt advice agencies and local authorities to ensure that repossession is only ever a last resort and that effective help and advice for homeowners at risk of repossession is available.
	www.gov.uk/repossession/get-advice
	outlines the options available to households.
	A range of Government support is in place to help homeowners at risk of repossession. Targeted support includes the Department for Communities and Local Government funded £221 million Mortgage Rescue Scheme, aimed at vulnerable homeowners at risk of repossession which has been improved to deliver better value for money for the taxpayer. Applications for the scheme are considered by local authorities across England as part of their duties to prevent homelessness. Support for mortgage interest, paid as part of DWP benefits, remains available to help eligible out of work households meet their monthly interest payments.
	The Department announced £20 million funding for preventing repossessions in February last year which provides additional options for local housing authorities to tackle repossessions in their local area. South Tyneside council received £92,128 for a Preventing Repossessions Fund which can be used to offer small interest free loans or grants to households at risk of repossession to address immediate short-term financial difficulties and avoid households becoming homeless due to mortgage possession.

Non-Domestic Rates: Shops

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effects of business rates on independent shops.

Brandon Lewis: Our commitment to hold business rate rises to the annual retail prices index cap means there has been no real terms increase in business rates since 1990. In addition, we have also postponed the revaluation of business premises from 2015 to 2017 to provide certainty and stability; doubled the level of small business rate relief for a further year (the whole of 2013-14); made it easier to claim small business rate relief; and given authorities powers to provide their own business rates discounts, as they see fit.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what allowances and subsidies in addition to salary were available to officials in (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value was of such payments and allowances in each such year.

Brandon Lewis: A full breakdown of the monetary value of each type of allowance and subsidy paid in addition to salary for the last two financial years will be placed in the Library of the House.
	For information on allowances and subsides in addition to salary for the period 2009-10 and 2010-11, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 8 March 2012, Official Report, column 861W, where the information requested was placed in the Library of the House.
	For allowances and subsides in addition to salary for the financial period 2008-09, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 25 October 2010, Official Report, column 87W.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold information centrally on allowances and subsidies made to staff within its agencies prior to 2009-10.
	The Department is reviewing its allowances and subsidies as part of wider work to review its overall pay structure.
	Based on current estimates, the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by 41% in real terms by 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532,000,000 over this spending review period.
	Our departmental audited annual accounts for the core Department show that total staff costs fell from £216 million in 2009-10 to £109 million in 2011-12; this is an annual saving of £107,000,000.

Planning Obligations

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what plans he has to review the effect of the removal of the threshold to one house for section 106 agreements following the introduction of the National Planning Framework in 2012;
	(2)  how many local authorities have received no single-dwelling planning applications after removing the minimum five-house threshold for section 106 agreements following the introduction of the National Planning Framework in 2012;
	(3)  how many local authorities have reduced the threshold to one house for section 106 agreements following the introduction of the National Planning Framework in 2012;
	(4)  which organisations he consulted before removing the minimum five-house threshold for section 106 agreements in the National Planning Framework in 2012.

Nicholas Boles: holding answer 18 March 2013
	The draft National Planning Policy Framework was subject to full public consultation and included local workshop events across the country and many ministerial meetings with interested parties, on the draft framework. The Government considered all consultation responses before producing the final version of the framework.
	Information on planning applications made to local planning authorities is not centrally held; they are a matter for the local planning authority unless are appealed.
	We have introduced reforms to help developers and landowners renegotiate economically unrealistic affordable housing requirements in section 106 agreements, and to deliver more private and affordable housing than would otherwise be the case.
	Any affordable housing requirements in section 106 planning obligations are sought, negotiated and applied locally by the local planning authority. The National Planning Policy Framework is absolutely clear that local planning authorities must have regard to economic viability in their consideration of section 106 obligations.
	As announced on 15 April, my department is currently consulting on proposals to exempt self-build from the community infrastructure levy. We are open to representations on the broader issues of planning contributions and self-build.

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department has taken to implement the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

Brandon Lewis: Local spending decisions are for local authorities themselves, but central Government have a significant role in creating the conditions for effective local procurement.
	Our approach has been to influence and encourage the sector to streamline their procurement functions and open up tenders to a wider range of potential suppliers, including small and medium sized enterprises as well as voluntary and community groups.
	To help local authorities acquire the skills to better commission services we are working with the Cabinet Office and the Local Government Association to provide accessible learning opportunities on commissioning skills for all council officers. We will also shortly be announcing the winners of the “Best councils to do business with” contest, which will identify those local authorities that are doing the most to open up their procurement practices to small business, including voluntary and community groups, and will then share their good practice throughout the sector.
	The Department continues to support the implementation of the Community Right to Challenge. The Right enables voluntary and community groups to put forward proposals to deliver local government services, which must be considered by the local authority. An expression of interest under the Right must include information on how the proposals will promote the social, economic and environmental well-being of the area and this must be reflected in any procurement exercise carried out as a result.
	In addition, the Cabinet Office has written directly to local authorities to raise awareness of the new Act.

Sickness Absence

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies have had (i) fewer than five days, (ii) five to 10 days, (iii) 10 to 15 days, (iv) 15 to 20 days, (v) 20 to 25 days, (vi) 25 to 50 days, (vii) 50 to 75 days, (viii) 75 to 100 days, (ix) 100 to 150 days, (x) 150 to 200 days, (xi) more than 200 days, (xii) more than three months, (xiii) more than six months and (xiv) more than one year on paid sick leave (A) consecutively and (B) in total in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: I have placed a table in the Library of the House for the central Department and its three executive agencies for short-term and long-term absence. Data for the Department's Non-Departmental Public Bodies are not held centrally. The full information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The core Department's absence rate in 2012 was 6.1 average working days lost per member of staff. This is lower than the civil service average of 7.6 days and below the private sector average of 7.1 (based on the CIPD20 measure).
	I also refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 15 April 2013, Official Report, columns 222-23W, on the steps we are taking to reduce such absence.

Social Rented Housing

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 477W, on social rented housing, whether mortgage providers have been informed of his Department's initiative to bring empty homes back into use.

Mark Prisk: Full details of all the empty homes initiatives were made available on the Department's website as they were announced:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-boost-will-help-stop-the-rot-of-empty-homes
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/community-groups-to-bring-2-000-empty-homes-back-to-life-with-government-help
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/145-million-boost-to-help-communities-tackle-empty-homes
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-cash-for-neglected-neighbourhoods-to-bring-empty-homes-back-into-use
	Officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government regularly meet with the Council of Mortgage Lenders to discuss a range of matters.

PRIME MINISTER

Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many officials in No. 10 Downing Street travelled on (a) domestic and (b) international flights in each of the last five years; in which class categories; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest airfare charges in each such year;
	(2)  how many officials in No. 10 Downing Street stayed in hotels in (a) the UK and (b) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	To drive up efficiency this Government have established a new central contact for travel arrangements and an online booking system.
	As was the case under the previous Administration, officials may travel on departmental business. Those travelling on Government business should always consider the business case for their travel and work to minimise unnecessary expenditure.
	Since the general election, this Government have significantly increased the transparency around how we spends public money, including on travel. Details of overseas travel by all Ministers are published quarterly, alongside all spend by Departments over £25,000 and over £500 on Government Procurement Cards. We are exploring how we can extend our transparency arrangements to cover senior officials' travel.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Archbishop of Canterbury

Anne McIntosh: To ask the honourable Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners what issues the new Archbishop of Canterbury intends to prioritise during the early stages of his ministry.

Tony Baldry: Early indications as to the priorities of the Archbishop can be seen in a number of ways such as the appointment of new staff at Lambeth, the first ever woman chaplain to an Archbishop of Canterbury and a director of reconciliation. Other priorities clearly include his concerns for public spiritual renewal, peace building and reconciliation, as well as tackling economic deprivation and support for marginalised communities.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the movement of digital products to cloud computing services on small businesses;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of steps taken to encourage the adoption of technology by small businesses;
	(3)  what representations his Department has made to large software companies on improving accessibility of technology to small businesses; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of pricing plans for single- and multi-user licences on the adoption of technology by small businesses.

Michael Fallon: In developing the forthcoming information economy strategy, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is considering the impact and opportunities new technologies offer UK businesses. This has included dialogue with the sector about helping companies, understand the opportunities they can access in the fields of big data analytics, cloud computing and the online economy. Following completion of a pilot, we are working with the sector to develop a collaborative programme to encourage small businesses to transact online and make greater use of ICT to drive growth.
	As announced in the Budget, the Government intend to provide small businesses in England with £30 million of growth vouchers to help them overcome barriers to growth, which may include the adoption of new technology. No assessment has been made of pricing plans for software licences as these are matters for commercial negotiation. The move to cloud based digital services provides small businesses with an opportunity to reduce capital costs and adopt a pay-as-you-go model.

Exports: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether an application for approval under EU state aid rules has been submitted in relation to the Export Refinancing Facility.

Michael Fallon: No application has yet been made.

Exports: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what date he expects the Export Refinancing Facility to be operational.

Michael Fallon: The Export Refinancing Facility is still being developed; at this stage it is not possible to predict when it will become operational.

Exports: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether an application for approval under EU state aid rules has been submitted in relation to the Direct Lending Scheme administered by UK Export Finance.

Michael Fallon: No application has been made.

Exports: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what date he expects the Direct Lending Scheme administered by UK Export Finance to be operational.

Michael Fallon: The Direct Lending Scheme is still being developed. At this stage it is not possible to predict when the facility will become operational.

GCE AS-level

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which universities currently use AS levels as a means of assessing applicant potential during admission decisions.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 4 March 2013
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Education.
	We know that universities use a range of information and evidence about applicants for admissions purposes. Even within individual universities, there may be a variety of approaches between subjects. Changes to the AS and A-levels mean that some universities may need to make changes to admissions processes. However, Ofqual's consultation on A-level reform found that for many universities, the removal of AS would not have a major impact on selection processes.

Staff

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 April 2013, Official Report, column 492W, on senior civil servants, how many staff have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement and (c) taken long-term sick leave in each year since 2009.

Jo Swinson: In June 2009 the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was merged with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to create the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS); therefore we only have access to data from this date.
	The following table shows the number of staff who have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement and (c) taken long-term sick leave in each year.
	
		
			  (a) Resigned (b) Voluntary early retirement (c) Long-term sick(1) 
			 2009 50 2 21 
			 2010 102 196 78 
			 2011 74 65 99 
			 2012 71 3 102 
			 2013 16 47 20 
			 Totals 313 313 320 
			 (1) Defined as over 21 working days or 29 calendar days. Some long-term cases may over lap calendar years. Numbers given from when absence started.

HEALTH

22q Deletion Syndrome

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will adopt the national consensus document on the diagnosis and management of 22q deletion syndrome as NHS policy; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The commissioning of specialised services is the responsibility of NHS England.
	NHS England have advised me that they will establish a Rare Diseases Advisory Group, which will be coordinated by the Highly Specialised Services Portfolio team in NHS England Medical Directorate. Clinical Reference Groups with patient and carer engagement have been established for congenital heart disease and for multi-system disorders. They will review the service specification in 2013-14 and will consider the national consensus document as part of their review. Consideration will also be given to whether any clinical access policies are required in order to ensure excellent care for the complex issues relating to 22q11 deletion syndrome.

Air Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in his (a) Department and (b) non-departmental public bodies travelled on (i) domestic and (ii) international flights in each of the last five years; in which class categories; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest airfare charges in each such year.

Daniel Poulter: Information held by both the Department and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) where available for the fast five financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13 is in the following table. Responses have been provided for the years that each NDPB has been in existence. Where organisations have been unable to provide certain information, due to it not being held or because compilation would result in disproportionate cost, an entry of ‘Not Available’ has been declared. The six NDPBs were: NHS England, Care Quality Commission (CQC), Monitor, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), and the Health Protection Agency (HPA).
	HFEA and HPA are unable to provide information due to disproportionate cost.
	The Department is unable to provide data on the number and class of traveller for all years.
	
		
			 Total flight and top 20 costs 
			 £ 
			  Total cost 20 highest fare cost 
			 2008-09 1,112,978 128,462 
			 2009-10 811,677 123,796 
			 2010-11 428,138 134,470 
			 2011-12 158,580 81,712 
			 2012-13 196,292 105,668 
		
	
	The CQC are unable to provide information on class of travel.
	Details of CQC domestic, international travellers by year, total cost flight and 20 highest fares.
	
		
			  Number of domestic travellers Number of international travellers Total cost (£) 20 highest fare cost (£) 
			 2009-10 130 10 52,519 9,202 
			 2010-11 78 10 34,414 6,176 
			 2011-12 108 5 38,701 8,911 
			 2012-13 212 5 53,700 8,072 
		
	
	The HTA are unable to provide numbers and classification of travellers or the 20 highest costs.
	
		
			 Total costs of air travel. 
			  Total cost (£) 
			 2008-09 429 
			 2009-10 6,973 
			 2010-11 6,757 
			 2011-12 5,837 
			 2012-13 6,363 
		
	
	NHS England
	Number of domestic travellers for 2012-13 is 22.
	Number of international travellers for 2012-13 is seven.
	Total costs for air travel for 2012-13 is £13,658.
	Cost of top 20 air travel is £10,949
	There is no categorisation of class of travel given.
	Departmental information relates to flights captured by third party travel management systems (approximately 92% of transactions) and costs incurred by individuals and reclaimed through the internal Business Management System (BMS) (approximately 8% of transactions) that was introduced in July 2008. This has resulted in only nine months data being available for 2008-09 via BMS.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to reduce the cost to the public purse of use of the NHS to treat illnesses traced to alcohol abuse.

Anna Soubry: The Government's Alcohol Strategy, published on 23 March 2012, brings together the Government's approach to reducing the incidence of alcohol-related disease and crime.
	The strategy includes a range of actions such as:
	proposals to tackle the availability of cheap alcohol;
	an industry pledge through the responsibility deal to take 1 billion units out of the market by 2015;
	building on the introduction of a ring-fenced public health grant to local authorities in England through greater use of brief interventions, specialised alcohol treatment, and alcohol liaison nurses within hospital emergency departments; and
	in England, we are funding an alcohol check within the NHS Health Check for adults aged between 40 and 74 for the first time from April 2013.
	The Government sought views on a number of measures set out in the Alcohol Strategy, in a consultation published by the Home Office on 28 November, which concluded on 6 February. We will set out a response in due course.
	Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, will oversee a review of the alcohol guidelines to ensure they are based on the best possible evidence.
	Public Health England (PHE) is the new Executive agency of the Department of Health with the role of supporting local authorities responsible for public health. PHE will provide data, evidence and support to local authorities and national health service partners to enable them to reduce the harmful impact from alcohol in local communities.
	PHE will also encourage greater use of effective interventions, such as brief interventions, alcohol interventions in secondary NHS care and the treatment of dependent drinkers.

Anorexia

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many patients were treated in the NHS after presenting with anorexia nervosa in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what recent representations he has received from third sector organisations about the quality of anorexia nervosa care in the NHS; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent steps he has taken to ensure that NHS trusts improve the experience of patients suffering from anorexia nervosa;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the number of people suffering from anorexia nervosa who remain without treatment because (a) treatment is not available to them and (b) they are unwilling to be treated.

Norman Lamb: We do not collect statistics on the number of patients treated in the national health service for anorexia nervosa. However, numbers of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of anorexia nervosa over the past 10 years are supplied in the following table. The number of episodes does not represent the number of patients, as an individual may be admitted to hospital on more than one occasion in any given year:
	
		
			 A count of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa for the years 2002-03 to 2011-12, activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Finished Admission Episodes 
			 2002-03 1,151 
			 2003-04 1,126 
			 2004-05 1,253 
			 2005-06 1,385 
			 2006-07 1,484 
			 2007-08 1,473 
			 2008-09 1,422 
			 2009-10 1,585 
			 2010-11 1,445 
			 2011-12 1,647 
			 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre 
		
	
	There have been representations from third sector organisations concerning eating disorder issues. Policy officials received a note from the eating disorder charity ‘beat’, enclosing the report ‘Costs of eating disorders in England: Economic impacts of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and other disorders, focussing on young people’ which they published jointly with Pro Bono Economics and launched in July 2012.
	A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified one item of correspondence from a third sector organisation received since 1 April 2012 about the quality of anorexia nervosa care in the NHS.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) produced a clinical guideline on the core interventions in the treatment and management of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders in 2004 and this will be updated in 2014.
	The guidelines give clear recommendations on the type of treatments that are available, and set out a structured pathway of care. NICE has also published information for the public that explains the guideline and sets out what people with eating disorders can expect from the NHS.
	Responsibility for commissioning specialist in-patient eating disorders services (both adults and children) transferred to NHS England on 1 April 2013 and the NHS England has consulted on a national service specification against which it will commission these services. It is our expectation that this approach will result in better planning and co-ordination of specialised services, greater equity of access, care and outcomes for patients and a more pro-active and systematic approach to service development, research and innovation.
	We have made no such estimate of the number of people suffering from anorexia nervosa who remain without treatment, for either reason.

Dementia

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the findings of the Social Care Institute for Excellence on black and minority ethnic people with dementia and their access to support and services, published in March 2011.

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no specific assessment of the findings of the March 2011 Social Care Institute for Excellence publication. In July 2011, the Department published an equalities action plan for the national dementia strategy. Local national health service and social care commissioners should consider the needs of their local population when commissioning services for people with dementia.

Dementia

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the differential incidence of dementia among older people of Irish birth or descent; and what steps he is taking to encourage or commission research into the awareness, needs and wishes of older Irish people with dementia and their carers.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not commissioned or evaluated research on these specific topics.
	In March 2012, the Prime Minister's challenge on dementia announced that the combined value of the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Medical Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council funding for research into dementia will increase from £26.6 million in 2009-10 to an estimated £66.3 million in 2014-15. This includes £22 million for dementia research projects announced in December 2012 following the NIHR themed call on dementia.
	The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect—of human health, including dementia in relation to Irish people in England. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department has allocated to drug addiction services in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last three years.

Anna Soubry: Central Department of Health funding for the treatment of adult drug dependence in Coventry, the West Midlands and England in the last three years is set out in the following table. This money was allocated via the adult pooled treatment budget.
	
		
			 Central Department of Health funding for drug treatment in Coventry, the West Midlands and England for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 
			 £ million 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Coventry 2.47 2.64 2.80 
			 West Midlands 41.38 42.01 42.11 
			 England 381.30 381.30 381.30 
		
	
	In addition to these sums, £60 million nationally was provided by the Department in 2011-12 and 2012-13 to ensure offenders get access to drug treatment services. This was allocated according to the historic Home Office Drug Intervention Programme formula, but was distributed through the pooled treatment budget mechanism, supplementing the funding supplied direct to local drugs partnerships by the Home Office.
	From April 2013, the central funding for drug treatment has been included in a wider ring-fenced public health grant. This grant, which amounts to £2.7 billion in 2013-14 and £2.8 billion in 2014-15, is issued to local authorities to support their new public health responsibilities. There is no further ring-fencing of drug and alcohol treatment money within the public health budget.

Drugs: Side Effects

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have suffered from adverse reactions to drugs provided by the NHS in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2013 to date; and how many such reactions have resulted in death.

Norman Lamb: Reports of ‘suspected’ adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines through the spontaneous reporting scheme, the Yellow Card scheme. The scheme collects suspected ADR reports from the whole of the United Kingdom in relation to all medicines and vaccines and does not distinguish between ADRs associated with drugs provided by the national health service and drugs received from other sources.
	Between the 1 January 2008 and 31 March 2013 the MHRA has received a total of 132,374 United Kingdom spontaneous suspected ADR reports, 7,751 of these were associated with a fatal outcome. The following table provides a breakdown of these reports by year.
	
		
			 Receipt year Total number of ADR reports Number of ADR fatal reports 
			 2008 25,028 1,278 
			 2009 25,465 1.185 
			 2010 23,310 1,476 
			 2011 25,145 1,867 
			 2012 26,084 1,554 
			 2013(1) 7,342 391 
			 Total 132,374 7,751 
			 (1) ADR reports for 2013 comprise reports received between the 1 January 2013 to the 31 March 2013 inclusively. 
		
	
	It is important to note that the reporting of a suspected adverse reaction does not necessarily mean it is related to the drug. The reports are ‘suspicions’ of ADRs and have not been proven. Many factors have to be taken into account in assessing causal relationships including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication and the underlying disease being treated.

Hotels

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in his (a) Department and (b) non-departmental public bodies stayed in hotels in (i) the UK and (ii) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year.

Daniel Poulter: Information held by both the Department and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) where available for the last five financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13 is contained in the following tables. Responses have been provided for the years that each NDPB has been in existence. Where organisations have been unable to provide certain information, due to it not being held or because compilation would result in disproportionate cost, an entry of ‘not available' has been declared.
	The six NDPBs were: NHS England, Monitor, Care Quality Commission (CQC), Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), Human Tissue Authority (HTA) and Health Protection Agency (HPA).
	HFEA and HPA are unable to provide information due to disproportionate cost.
	The Department is unable to provide the number of guests who stayed in international or United Kingdom hotels.
	Total cost and cost of top 20 hotels for Department were:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Total cost 20 highest expenses 
			 2008-09 1,739,947 17,469 
			 2009-10 1,858,454 14,649 
			 2010-11 1,384,056 13,113 
			 2011-12 786,457 14,034 
			 2012-13 591,867 18,097 
		
	
	The CQC are unable to provide the number of guests who stayed in international or UK hotels or the cost of the top 20 hotels.
	Total cost of hotels for CQC was:
	
		
			  Total cost (£) 
			 2009-10 1,047,104 
			 2010-11 816,926 
			 2011-12 752,416 
			 2012-13 1,014,009 
		
	
	HTA are unable to provide the number of guests who stayed in international or UK hotels or the cost of the top 20 hotels.
	Total cost of hotels for HTA was:
	
		
			  Total cost (£) 
			 2008-09 10,965 
			 2009-10 32,640 
			 2010-11 36,965 
			 2011-12 35,531 
			 2012-13 33,866 
		
	
	Monitor are unable to provide the number of guests who stayed in international or UK hotels or the cost of the top 20 hotels.
	Total cost of hotels for Monitor was:
	
		
			  Total cost (£) 
			 2008-09 47,244 
			 2009-10 24,217 
			 2010-11 17,288 
			 2011-12 21,071 
			 2012-13 34,520 
		
	
	NHS England
	Number of domestic guests 2011-12 was 370.
	Number of international guests 2011-12 was three.
	Total cost of hotels in 2011-12 was £250,891.
	Cost of top 20 hotels in 2011-12 was £3,879.
	Departmental information relates to hotels captured by third party travel management systems (approximately 92% of transactions) and costs incurred by individuals and reclaimed through the internal Business Management System (BMS) (approximately 8% of transactions) that was introduced in July 2008. This has resulted in only nine months data being available for 2008-09 via BMS.

Liver Diseases

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS admissions for alcoholic liver disease there have been in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2013 to date.

Anna Soubry: The following table contains a count of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis code of alcoholic liver disease for the whole years 2007-08 to 2011-12 and for April to December 2012.
	It should be noted that these figures are not a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion in any given year.
	
		
			 A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs)(1) with a primary diagnosis()of alcoholic liver disease(3) for the whole years 2007-08 to 2011-12(4) and for April to December 2012(5) 
			  FAEs 
			 2007-08 14,461 
			 2008-09 14,370 
			 2009-10 14,886 
			 2010-11 15,858 
			 2011-12 16,865 
			 2012-13(5) (April-December 2012) 12,306 
			 (1 )Finished admissions episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2 )Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. (3 )ICD codes for alcoholic liver disease K70.0 Alcoholic fatty liver K70.1 Alcoholic hepatitis K70.2 Alcoholic fibrosis and sclerosis of liver K70.3 Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver K70.4 Alcoholic hepatic failure K70.9 Alcoholic liver disease, unspecified (4 )Assessing growth through time (inpatients) HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. (5 )Provisional Data The data are provisional and may be incomplete or contain errors for which no adjustments have yet been made. Counts produced from provisional data are likely to be lower than those generated for the same period in the final dataset. This shortfall will be most pronounced in the final month of the latest period, i.e. November from the (month 9) April to November extract. It is also probable that clinical data are not complete, which may in particular affect the last two months of any given period. There may also be errors due to coding inconsistencies that have not yet been investigated and corrected. Note: Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. Health and Social Care Information Centre liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Malnutrition

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have left hospital malnourished in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2013 to date.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not have figures regarding the number of patients leaving hospital malnourished; hospital episode statistics data allows the identification of conditions for which a patient is treated during their hospital stay, but does not identify whether they were malnourished, or suffered from any other condition, at the point of discharge from hospital.
	From this month, new patient led assessments will look at the quality of food and food services in hospitals providing national health service funded care. The new patient led assessments will specifically ask patients whether they received the meals they ordered and the result will contribute to the marking the hospital is given. The new assessments will look to make sure that hospitals hit the mark on food and drink, from a patient's point of view.
	Good food, and ensuring patients receive the help they need to eat is an essential part of hospital care. There is a wealth of national guidance available to the NHS to ensure that excellent nutritional care is the norm.
	Food and drink are one of the 12 areas of practice within the Essence of Care benchmarking system, which covers all aspects of fundamental care. This looks at screening and assessment of nutritional risk on initial contact, such as admission to hospital. In addition, guidance and toolkits to support the delivery of food in the NHS are available on the Hospital Caterers' Association website.
	Many hospital wards across the country have introduced the ‘red tray’ scheme, whereby patients at risk of poor nutrition are identified for special attention. This initiative came from an Essence of Care action plan, and although not mandatory, is being widely used.

NHS: Fraud

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the benefit in (a) monetary and (b) other terms of his Department's counter-fraud activities in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department worked in counter-fraud activities in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how much his Department has spent on counter-fraud activities in each of the last five years;
	(4)  what data his Department (a) publishes about fraud and (b) collects but does not publish about fraud.

Daniel Poulter: A dedicated Department of Health Counter Fraud Investigation Service (CFIS) commenced on 1 April 2010 to provide reactive investigation resource for internal departmental cases.
	Records prior to April 2010 are not separately obtainable.
	The information in the following data tables relates only to the reactive investigating service.
	The value of fraud proven and/or identified in the Department is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Value of fraud proven/identified against the Department 
			 As at 1 April to 31 March each year GBP (£) 
			 2010-11 (1, 2)62,100 
			 2011-12 (1, 2)283,500 
			 2012-13 (1, 3)354,000 
			 (1) Approx. (2) All possible options including criminal (Proceeds of Crime) and civil, are considered as part of the financial recovery process. (3) Criminal mandate fraud attempt prevented. 
		
	
	The numbers of full-time equivalent staff in the Department who worked in CFIS were:
	
		
			 As at 1 April to 31 March each year Full-time equivalent staff 
			 2010-11 1 
			 2011-12 2 
			 2012-13 (1)0 
			 (1) External supplier resource was used for investigation work in 2012-13. 
		
	
	The amount spent solely and specifically on counter-fraud investigation over this period was salary costs of the staff identified:
	
		
			 As at 1 April to 31 March each year GBP (£) 
			 2010-11 52,805 
			 2011-12 105,418 
			 2012-13 (1)33,518 
			 (1) Plus minor travel and subsistence 
		
	
	The Department is a member of the Cabinet Office led Fraud, Error and Debt group and in 2011-12 has implemented the group's programme of central Government anti-fraud activity. This included a staff fraud awareness survey; a fraud awareness week; Civil service learning anti-fraud e-learning for staff; and participation in national fraud initiative data matching exercise.
	All senior civil service have had, under the departmental statement of internal control process, responsibility to guard against fraud. While we can give some specific numbers on fraud investigation spend and recovery, fraud prevention as a whole is an integral part of everyone's job and does not enable specific reporting on savings. Nor are the true results of fraud prevention activity identifiable.
	All new starters at the Department are provided with counter fraud input and have to complete an on-line assessment as part of induction. Protection of public funds from fraud is integral to the Department's operational work, core processes and at strategic level via governance and internal controls.
	With regard to data the Department collects and publishes, limited information is obtained and retained in accordance with appropriate statute and departmental policy. Fraud related data published externally are via the Cabinet Office and those data includes recovered/prevented losses as a result of fraud.
	Internal CFIS management information consists of additional information to enable fraud investigations to be carried out. For example, it includes information about fraud allegations/referrals received and how they have been dealt with. The Department's audit and risk committee is provided with management information on a regular basis.

NHS: Labour Turnover

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether data on staff turnover in surgical, nursing and managerial positions are used in monitoring the performance of NHS trusts.

Daniel Poulter: The NHS Trust Development Authority uses data such as this in its assessment of national health service trusts. The NHS Trust Development Authority Accountability Framework, published earlier this month, sets out a number of NHS trust performance indicators which include staff turnover in the quality governance section. While the indicators differentiate between clinical and non-clinical staff, they do not differentiate between professions.

NHS: Labour Turnover

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data he holds on the average tenure in managerial posts in individual NHS trusts.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold data on the tenure of national health service managers. The NHS Trust Development Authority will collate information from NHS trusts about staff turnover, as outlined in its Accountability Framework, published earlier this month. However, this does not distinguish between executive and non-executive positions.

Official Hospitality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible claimed reimbursements for working lunches and official entertainment in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each such year.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not held centrally. Official expenditure, including expenses claims, whether by officials in the Department or any of its arm's length bodies, has to be in line with relevant codes of conduct and of business practice. All such systems and processes are subject to external audit.

Operating Costs

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of administrative savings have been made by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Daniel Poulter: Administration budgets are Treasury control totals set as an outcome of spending reviews and represent the underlying trajectory for recurrent administrative spending.
	Over the 2002 spending review period (2004-05 to 2005-06) the Department's administration budget fell by 10.9% in real terms; in the 2004 spending review (2006-07 to 2007-08) it fell by 19.3% in real terms; in the 2007 spending review (2008-09 to 2010-11) it fell by 13.3% in real terms; and in the first year of the 2010 Spending review period (2011-12) it fell by 13.6% in real terms.
	Each year, the out-turn on administration spend was within budget, demonstrating implicit savings on these spending review settlements.
	Each spending review baseline will be set on a slightly different basis and/or scope because of technical changes to the administration costs regime (eg the treatment of income), changes to the boundary of the administration budget (eg the recent inclusion of some NHS bodies) and machinery of government changes. The aggregation of absolute (cash) reductions across this period is not therefore meaningful as the data are not directly comparable.

Ovarian Cancer

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on its refusal to provide the drug Avastin on the NHS to treat ovarian cancer.

Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for providing advice to the national health service in England on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of drugs and treatments.
	NICE is currently appraising the use of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin for the first-line chemotherapy treatment of ovarian cancer and in combination with gemcitabine and carboplatin for treating the first recurrence of platinum-sensitive advanced ovarian cancer (including fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer). NICE has not yet published its final guidance to the NHS for these appraisals.
	In the absence of positive NICE technology appraisal guidance, local NHS commissioners should make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient's clinical circumstances.
	Where a cancer drug is not routinely funded by the local NHS, patients may be able to access it through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Pain

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the contribution by the Minister of State for Care and Support on 25 February 2013, Official Report, columns 147-150, what plans he has to introduce a quality standard for chronic pain management.

Norman Lamb: The Department has asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to develop a quality standard on pain management for young people and adults as part of a library of approximately 180 NHS Quality Standards. NICE has not yet published a time scale for the development of this quality standard. NHS England is now responsible for the strategic direction of NHS quality standards.
	The mandate to NHS England requires it to deliver continued improvements in relation to enhancing the quality of life for people with long-term conditions, which includes those with chronic pain.

Patients: Death

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many (a) mortality alerts and (b) reviews there have been in the NHS in England in the last three months; and in how many cases services were suspended whilst reviews or investigations took place;
	(2)  how many (a) mortality alerts and (b) reviews are currently under investigation in the NHS in England; and in how many cases services have been suspended whilst these take place.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) mortality outliers programme currently has 40 active mortality alerts. Between 22 January 2013 and 22 April 2013, 21 mortality alerts have been generated internally or received as part of the CQC mortality outliers programme. 17 alerts were received from the Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College, two mortality alerts were received from the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery and two alerts were generated internally. CQC does not carry data numerating how many reviews are currently under investigation in the NHS in England. No services are being or have been suspended during investigation of these mortality outlier alerts.
	There is a separate review being undertaken by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh (Medical Director of NHS England) into 14 NHS trusts and foundation trusts that have been mortality outliers for the last two consecutive years. They are:
	Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust;
	Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
	Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
	Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
	East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust;
	North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust;
	United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust;
	George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust;
	Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust;
	Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
	The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust;
	Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
	Medway NHS Foundation Trust; and
	Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
	The review began in February 2013 and will publish a public report summarising the findings and actions resulting from the 14 investigations before the summer.
	In March further concerns arose in relation to outcomes from surgery at Leeds General Infirmary's child cardiac unit specifically. In response to the potentially serious concerns that were identified surgery was temporarily halted at Leeds until NHS England had been reassured that it was safe for surgery to continue. NHS England is continuing to work with Leeds General Infirmary to ensure that it can deliver sustainable improvements in outcomes for children undergoing heart surgery over the long-term.

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to implement the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

Daniel Poulter: Cabinet Office circulated a Procurement Policy Note on 20 December 2012 with guidance on the requirements of the Public Services (Social Value) Act, which came into force in January 2013.
	The Department has reviewed and updated its procurement documentation and guidance in light of the provisions of the Act.

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Daniel Poulter: Since 2007-08, the Department has approved a number of voluntary exits. In 2007-08 and 2010-11, the Department ran voluntary exit schemes which explains the rise in numbers and costs during those years.
	Details of the number of staff who left and the cost are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of exits Total cost (£ million) 
			 2007-08 76 7.9 
			 2008-09 15 2.6 
			 2009-10 18 2.2 
			 2010-11 261 20.3 
			 2011-12(1) (2)19 2.3 
			 (1) During 2011-12 the Department also used compulsory redundancy as part of downsizing. (2 )Figure comprised of 16 voluntary and 3 compulsory exits. 
		
	
	Figures for 2012-13 will be published as part of the annual reports and accounts.
	None of the six non-departmental public bodies for which the Secretary of State for Health is responsible made any payment under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years up to 2011-12.
	Figures for 2012-13 will be published as part of their annual reports and accounts.

Royal Sussex County Hospital

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects HM Treasury to approve the redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Daniel Poulter: All major capital schemes are expected to demonstrate robustly that they are affordable to their trusts, and need to be approved by the Department of Health and HM Treasury before the Government can grant our approval.
	The Department has had recent discussions with HM Treasury and the NHS Trust Development Authority (NHS TDA) about the business case for the redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital and to identify next steps in approval. The NHS TDA is currently leading the work with the Trust to provide new and refreshed financial information for HM Treasury to support the business case. This information is expected to be available in the coming weeks, however it is not possible at present to give an indication when an approval decision will be made.

Transplant Surgery

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many organ transplants have been received by those deemed to be (a) addicted to and (b) abusing alcohol in (i) each of the last five years and (ii) 2013 to date.

Anna Soubry: This information is not held centrally.
	The information in the following table has been provided by NHS Blood and Transplant. This table shows the number of liver transplants where the reason given for transplantation is ‘alcoholic liver disease’. The table also includes information where ‘alcoholic liver disease’ is the secondary and tertiary disease for liver transplantation, however in these cases the primary disease is recorded as Hepatitis C. The table also includes four cases where patients have received a combined liver and kidney transplant as this is, on occasion, considered beneficial.
	
		
			 Table: Liver transplants (including four cases of liver/kidney) since 2008 in United Kingdom where cause of disease is recorded as ‘Alcoholic liver disease’ 
			 Alcoholic liver disease 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013(1) 
			 Primary disease 129 127 143 127 161 58 
			 Secondary disease 27 15 15 24 28 7 
			 Tertiary disease 4 4 1 4 8 1 
			 Total 160 146 159 155 197 66 
			 (1 )Includes data as of 15 April 2013. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

TREASURY

Banks: Regulation

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has held with the Financial Conduct Authority about the introduction of an independent code of conduct for retail banking staff.

Sajid Javid: Treasury officials have had contact on various occasions with FCA and PRA staff (and, before 1 April 2013, with FSA staff) on possible measures to strengthen culture and standards in the banking sector.
	The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards has been established as a joint committee appointed by both Houses and chaired by Andrew Tyrie MP. The Committee has a remit to consider and report on a range of issues including professional standards and culture of the UK banking sector, and to make recommendations for legislative and other action. The Government look forward to the committee's final report.

Child Benefit

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what measures are in place to ensure that child benefit is distributed fairly when two parents have made competing applications for child benefit for the same child;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of cases in which two parents have made competing applications for child benefit for the same child in each of the last three years.

Sajid Javid: The law provides for child benefit to be paid to only one person. Where more than one person is responsible for a child and each satisfies the entitlement conditions, they should decide between themselves which of them shall be entitled and make an election to that effect. If they are unable to decide, it falls to a decision-maker, acting on behalf of the Commissioners for HMRC, to make a discretionary decision. There are no hard and fast rules governing these decisions, as every case is different and many factors that have a bearing on the care arrangements need to be considered. In general, the claimant who bears the greater responsibility will be awarded the child benefit. The overriding position is to ensure that the child is the ultimate beneficiary.
	The following table sets out the number of cases in which two parents have made a rival claim for child benefit for the same child in each of the last three years.
	
		
			  Number of rival claims 
			 2012-13 86,283 
			 2011-12 92,496 
			 2010-11 61,565 
			 2009-10 147,616

Defence

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it remains his policy to increase the defence budget in real terms in 2015-16.

Danny Alexander: The Ministry of Defence budget allocation for 2015-16 will be set as part of the Spending Round which is due to be published on 26 June 2013.

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has a dementia strategy.

Sajid Javid: The Treasury does not currently have a dementia policy.
	The Department is firmly committed to supporting the Dementia Challenge and Friends initiative launched by the Prime Minster last year, and in this respect the Department encouraged employees to sign up to the “Dementia Friend” initiative after the launch.
	There is support also available for staff through a confidential Occupational Health service with an onsite Occupational Health Adviser available to discuss any medical conditions which could result in long term sickness absence. This service provides both help to identify, assess and prevent ill-health wherever possible and to provide assistance to any staff who are affected. There is also an Employee Assistance Programme which provides information and counselling services particularly if problems could result in absence relating to mental health. Wellbeing events where staff can take part in health checks are also held from time to time.

Economic Situation

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures his Department uses to quantify (a) consumer and (b) business confidence in the UK.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury reviews a wide range of data and surveys to inform its assessment of the economy.
	In assessing developments in household consumption and consumer confidence, HM Treasury considers a range of indicators alongside official statistics. These include:
	Bank of England Agents' Summary of Business Conditions
	BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor
	Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Distributive Trades Survey
	GfK Consumer Confidence Index
	Visa Expenditure Index
	Similarly, in assessing conditions in the business sector, including business confidence, HM Treasury considers a range of indicators alongside official statistics. These include:
	Bank of England Agents' Summary of Business Conditions
	British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey
	CBI Monthly, Quarterly and SME Industrial Trends Surveys, Service Sector Survey and Financial Services Survey
	Construction Products Association State of Trade Survey
	Deloitte CFO Survey
	EEF-BDO Manufacturing Outlook
	KPMG Annual Tax Competitiveness Survey
	Markit-CIPS Purchasing Manager Indices (PMI) for manufacturing, services and construction.

EDF Group

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what evaluation and due diligence has been carried out by his Department's Commercial Secretary in respect of the ability of Electricité de France to capitalise the construction of any new nuclear power plant in the UK while holding a £33 billion debt.

Sajid Javid: The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) leads negotiations on all projects under the FID-enabling programme subject to the usual arrangements for managing major projects. The Commercial Secretary supports DECC in these negotiations as part of his role in coordinating Government activity on infrastructure.

EDF Group

Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what involvement his Department has in the strike price negotiations with EDF.

Sajid Javid: The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) leads negotiations on all projects under the FID-enabling programme subject to the usual arrangements for managing major projects. The Commercial Secretary supports DECC in these negotiations as part of his role in coordinating Government activity on infrastructure.

Electronic Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many emails phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk has received; and what action has been taken as a result.

David Gauke: holding answer 22 April 2013
	HMRC has received over 75,000 customer referrals to our phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk e-mail address in the last 12 months. All referrals are investigated, and where necessary measures are taken to actively shut down websites that are set up to abuse our brand and defraud our customers.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the decision not to make compensation payments to Equitable Life With Profits policyholders who took out their policy prior to 1 September 1992.

Sajid Javid: The Chancellor announced in the 2013 Budget that those with-profits annuitants who bought their policy before September 1992, and are alive at the time of the announcement, will receive an ex-gratia payment of £5,000. A further £5,000 is available to those in receipt of pension credit. Further detail on this measure can be found at
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2013_equitable_life.htm

Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks

Robert Flello: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with the off-licence trade and trade bodies regarding evasion of alcohol duty by retailers.

Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of stakeholders as part of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.

Excise Duties: Tobacco

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the lower, mid-point and upper estimates were of the tax revenue foregone as a result of tobacco smuggling in each of the last five years; and when he expects to publish the estimate for financial year 2011-12.

Sajid Javid: Estimates of the losses in revenue associated with illicit sales of tobacco products were published in “Measuring Tax Gaps 2012”. This contains lower, midpoint and upper estimates of the tobacco tax gap from 2006-07 to 2010-11.
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-gaps/mtg-2012.pdf
	These estimates cannot be disaggregated by the type of illicit activity, e.g. through smuggling, counterfeiting or other fraud.
	Figures for 2011-12 are due to be released in the autumn of 2013.

Exports

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the comparative (a) cost and (b) performance of (i) Swedish, (ii) Dutch, (iii) Polish, (iv) French and (v) British export agencies.

Sajid Javid: The Treasury regularly monitors trends in the activity of a range of overseas export credit agencies using data on business volumes collected by the OECD and Berne Union. Comparisons of cost and performance are difficult because of the different institutional structures in each country and wider economic differences. The Treasury also considers other sources of comparative information, such as that published by the British Exporters' Association on the range of products offered by export credit agencies around the world.
	The Treasury has not recently compared the cost and performance of UK Trade and Investment with similar bodies overseas that promote exports.

Gift Aid

Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to complete registration of the application by Hope Church, Ferndown for Gift Aid registration made on 14 October 2012; and what the reasons were for the difference between the time taken and the information on the HMRC website that such a new registration should take about six weeks.

Sajid Javid: I am unable to answer the question because HM Revenue & Customs is subject to a strict duty of confidentiality in relation to customer information.
	HM Revenue & Customs may not disclose customer information outside the Department without the permission of the customer, except where there is specific legislation permitting the disclosure.

Government Departments: Procurement

Toby Perkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider bringing forward proposals to require Government contractors to pay their full tax liability in the UK.

David Gauke: The Government confirmed in the Budget that from 1 April 2013 it will require potential Government suppliers to declare specified previous occasions of tax non-compliance as part of the procurement process.

Income Tax

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of households containing one or more children in (a) the UK, (b) each nation and region of the UK and (c) each parliamentary constituency in the UK will have two adults each earning (i) more and (ii) less than the threshold for income tax in each of the next four financial years.

Sajid Javid: The following table gives the estimated number of households containing one or more children, by the composition of adults earning above and below the income tax personal allowance. Figures include households where one or more adults are not in work, but are limited to only those households with two adults and at least one child. Figures are not available for (a) geographical breakdowns smaller than the UK; and (b) 2015-16 and 2016-17.
	
		
			  2013-14 (Personal allowance = £9,440) 2014-15 (Personal allowance =.£10,000) 
			 No adults earning above the personal allowance 620,000 637,000 
			 One adult earning above the personal allowance 2,162,000 2,198,000 
			 Two adults earning above the personal allowance 2,377,000 2,324,000 
			 All 5,159,000 5,159,000 
			 Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000; totals may not sum due to rounding. The total population (5.2 million) represents the number of households with two adults (who may constitute multiple tax units) and at least one child.

Inheritance Tax

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) reducing and (b) scrapping the seven-year rule with regards to inheritance tax relief;
	(2)  if he will estimate the potential additional revenue that would be raised in inheritance tax by removing relief for agricultural and business assets;
	(3)  if he will estimate the potential additional revenue that would be raised in inheritance tax by removing the transferable nil rate band;
	(4)  how many estates were not taxed which were notified for probate worth (a) £500,000, (b) £1 million and (c) £2 million in each of the last three years;
	(5)  how much revenue in inheritance tax was foregone from (a) taper relief, (b) quick succession relief and (c) double taxation relief in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(6)  how much revenue for the public purse was raised from inheritance tax in (a) each Government office region, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each financial year since 2003;
	(7)  how many estates which were not taxed were notified for probate worth (a) £1,000,000, (b) £2,000,000 and (c) £500,000 in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) the UK, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland in each of the last three years;
	(8)  how much was paid in inheritance tax relief for holdings in (a) unincorporated partnerships, (b) owner-occupier farmland, (c) shares in qualifying unquoted companies and (d) bequest of landlord interests in let farmland in (i) Wales, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) the UK in each of the last 30 years;
	(9)  what estimate he has made of how much additional income would be raised in inheritance tax if the zero rate threshold were to be abolished;
	(10)  how much was paid in inheritance tax relief at the rate of (a) 0 per cent, (b) 20 per cent, (c) 40 per cent, (d) 60 per cent and (e) 80 per cent for (i) Wales, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) the UK in each year for which records are available;
	(11)  how much was paid in inheritance tax relief for holdings in (a) unincorporated partnerships, (b) owner-occupier farmland, (c) shares in qualifying unquoted companies and (d) bequest of landlord interests in let farmland for (i) Wales, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) the UK in each year for which records are available;
	(12)  what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) reducing and (b) scrapping the seven-year rule in relation to inheritance tax relief.

David Gauke: The information is as follows:
	PQ 152407 and PQ 153117
	An estimate of the cost of reducing or scrapping the seven year rule with regards to inheritance tax relief is not available.
	PQ 152685
	The estimated cost of relief for agricultural and business property is published at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table1-5.pdf
	PQ 152686
	An estimate of the cost of the nil rate band for chargeable transfers not exceeding the threshold is not available. The number of estates above the IHT threshold using the nil rate band and the amount of relief claimed by them is published in table 12.2 of the National Statistics, available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/inheritance/table12-2.pdf
	PQ 152687 and PQ 153039
	The number of estates in the UK which were notified for probate but which were not taxed worth £500,000 to £1 million, £1 million to £2 million and over £2 million is published in National Statistics Table 12.3 available from the HMRC website at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/inheritance/table12-3.pdf
	The information for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland is not available.
	PQ 152688 and PQ 153100
	The revenue forgone from taper relief, quick succession relief and double taxation relief are published in statistics table B1 available from the HMRC website at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table-b1.pdf
	The information for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland is not available. The information for taper relief split into relief at (a) 0%, (b) 20%, (c) 40%, (d) 60% and (e) 80% is not available.
	PQ 152745
	I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her question of 18 April 2013, Official Report, column 520W.
	PQ 152879 and PQ 153101
	I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her question of 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 672W.
	PQ 153087
	The estimated cost of the IHT threshold is published in statistics table 1.5 available from the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table1-5.pdf

Minimum Wage

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) the UK, (d) Wales, (e) Northern Ireland and (g) each Scottish local authority area received a warning for non-payment of the minimum wage in each year since 2007 and in 2013 to date.

David Gauke: HMRC does not record the outcome of its minimum wage investigations by reference to local authority areas.
	The total number of non-compliant employers identified, for the period requested, is in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland UK 
			 2007-08 1,195 147 174 134 1,650 
			 2008-09 1,251 168 175 148 1,742 
			 2009-10 885 130 145 96 1,256 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 890 80 95 75 1,140 
			 2011-12 763 81 72 52 968 
			 2012-13 540 67 83 46 736 
			 2013 to date 17 6 2 0 25

Mortgages: First-time Buyers

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to make low-deposit mortgages available to first-time buyers.

Sajid Javid: The Government are committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.
	The Government have acted to help those wishing to own their own home by introducing Help to Buy, which was announced at Budget 2013.
	Help to Buy is a major new package of measures designed to increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households, increase the supply of new housing and contribute to economic growth.
	There are two key elements to Help to Buy, the equity loan scheme which is already in place and began on 1 April 2013; and the mortgage guarantee scheme, which will start in January 2014.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the equity loans scheme announced in Budget 2013 will be available to people living in Scotland; and whether a person living in (a) England seeking to use the scheme for a property in Scotland and (b) Scotland seeking to use the scheme for a property in England can apply to use the scheme.

Sajid Javid: Scotland will receive Barnett Consequentials of the Government's Help to Buy: equity loan scheme, which they can use to implement the same or similar scheme if they so wish.
	Help to Buy: equity loan is available in England and is available to all UK residents providing the property is the buyers' only residence.

National Insurance Contributions

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of (a) co-operatives and (b) social enterprises in (i) the UK and (ii) Scotland which will benefit from the employment allowance.

David Gauke: Estimates are not available in the detail requested. However, co-operatives and social enterprises which trade will be eligible for the employment allowance as well as any other businesses which trade. Overall, it is estimated that up to 1.25 million employers in the UK and 98,000 in Scotland could potentially benefit from the allowance in 2014-15.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the cost of implementing PAYE Real Time Information.

David Gauke: The latest version of the full business case for PAYE Real Time Information shows a cost of £273.84 million for the spending review period to March 2015.
	RTI is the most significant change to PAYE for 70 years, and it is going well. By 22 April over 625,000 schemes were being reported in real time. The business case for RTI is very strong and pays back by the end of 2014-15, including savings of £500 million for customers and HMRC by that point.

Public Expenditure

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to communicate accurate and accessible information to the public about the size of (a) Government spending reductions, (b) the deficit and (c) the national debt.

Sajid Javid: The Government are committed to ensuring that the public are made aware of the state of the public finances and its fiscal policy decisions. We publish this information through a number of different channels. One of which is the published documents, including Budgets and autumn statements, available on the Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
	The latest information about the size of (a) Government spending reduction, (b) the deficit and (c) the national debt can be found in the Budget 2013 document available on the Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2013.htm
	The Treasury also produces infographics to explain some of the key statistics and measures contained in the Budget document available on the Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2013_infographics.htm

Revenue and Customs

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many days were lost to staff sickness at HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such absences in each such year.

David Gauke: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 Number of days lost to sickness absence and estimated cost 
			  Days lost Est. cost (£) 
			 2008-09 976,257 107,777,038 
			 2009-10 906,567 101,149,720 
			 2010-11 760,438 88,583,070 
			 2011-12 579,197 64,395,741 
			 2012-13 532,736 63,059,451 
			 Note: Costs are calculated using average salary, including Employers National Insurance Contribution and superannuation.

Revenue and Customs: Fraud

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the benefit in (a) monetary and (b) other terms from the HM Revenue and Customs' counter-fraud activities in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes performance data showing the additional revenues it raises from compliance activity within its annual report and accounts. The following table shows the additional revenues raised by the Department in each year from 2007-08.
	
		
			  £ billion 
			 2007-08 11.2 
			 2008-09 12 
			 2009-10 12.6 
			 2010-11 13.9 
			 2011-12 16.7 
		
	
	In addition HMRC publishes various progress reports on the further benefits that its compliance activity delivers. My hon. Friend can find useful information in the following publications:
	The HMRC annual report, the most recent iteration of which can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-resource-accounts-2011-12
	The 2012-13 report will be published in due course.
	Measuring tax gaps:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-gaps.htm
	Levelling the playing field: the most recent update of HMRC Compliance performance:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/level-tax-playing-field.pdf

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the premium rates charged for helplines operated by HM Revenue and Customs; what the reasons are for charging premium rates; on what grounds reimbursement of such charges can be requested; and if he will make a statement on the appropriateness of charging premium rates for public service helplines.

David Gauke: HMRC does not operate any “premium rate” helplines. All 0845 call charges are based on the tariff arrangements individual customers have with their service provider. For many customers, the cost of dialling a 0845 number will be very low or free; for those using a pay as you go mobile, the cost can be as high as 31.75p per minute.
	When HMRC set up 0845 numbers they were a cost effective way of improving the telephone service provided to customers. Since then the telecoms market has changed, and the tariff arrangements of individual customers mean that some are now disproportionately disadvantaged by the use of 0845 numbers. Between April and September this year HMRC will migrate 0845 numbers to 03XX, a move which HMRC estimate will save their customers about £13 million per year.
	HMRC does not reimburse customers for the cost of their telephone calls.

Royal Household

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Royal Household received from the Exchequer in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: The following is the information requested:
	
		
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 Civil list and other grants 28 29 30   
			 Sovereign grant — — — 31 36.1 
			 RH spend (real) Including Civil List Reserve 33.9 32.1 32.3 — — 
		
	
	The Royal Trustees Sovereign Grant Report of 2013-14 explains that the formula used for the Sovereign Grant Act is 15% of the Crown Estate's net revenue. The Royal Trustees approved £36.1 million for the current year in accordance with the Sovereign Grant Act of 2011.

State Retirement Pensions: Carers

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a carer's supplement to the basic state pension.

Sajid Javid: The Government recognise that unpaid carers provide invaluable support to people in some of the most vulnerable circumstances in society, and as such we have announced that carer's allowance will continue to exist as a separate benefit. While we continually keep benefits under review, there are no plans to introduce a carer's supplement to the basic state pension.
	Carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as pension credit. This benefit can be paid to carers at a higher rate through the additional amount for carers, which is currently worth up to £33.30 a week.

State Retirement Pensions: Uprating

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department will revert to using the retail price index when setting pension increase rates.

Sajid Javid: The Government has no plans to revert to using the Retail Price Index (RPI) for uprating the state pension.
	The Government introduced the triple lock for uprating the basic state pension, which means that it is increased each year by the highest of the growth in average earnings, price increases as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 2.5%.
	The triple lock means that in April 2013 a full basic state pension increased by £2.70 a week to £110.15 a week. As a result the basic state pension will represent a higher share of average earnings than at any time since 1992.

Tax Allowances: Married People

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to recognise marriage through the tax system.

David Gauke: holding answer 18 April 2013
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy) on 30 November 2012, Official Report, column 536W.

Tax Allowances: State Second Pension

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of providing continuing tax relief in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15, (c) 2015-16 and (d) 2016-17 for contributions made into second pension schemes of those who had already received between (i) £1 million-£1.2 million, (ii) £1.2 million-£1.4 million, (iii) £1.4 million-£1.6 million, (iv) £1.6 million-£1.8 million, (v) £1.8 million-£2 million and (vi) over £2 million of such relief in their lifetimes;
	(2)  what the cost was in 2012-13 of providing continuing tax relief for contributions made into second pension schemes of those who had already received between (a) £1 million-£1.2 million, (b) £1.2 million-£1.4 million, (c) £1.4 million-£1.6 million, (d) £1.6 million-£1.8 million, (e) £1.8 million-£2 million and (f) over £2 million of such relief;
	(3)  how many people have received total tax relief on their contributions into second pension schemes of between (a) £1 million-£1.2 million, (b) £1.2 million-£1.4 million, (c) £1.4 million-£1.6 million, (d) £1.6 million-£1.8 million, (e) £1.8 million-£2 million and (f) over £2 million to date;
	(4)  if he will make an estimate of how many persons will continue to receive tax relief on their contributions into second pension schemes having already been recipients of such relief over their lifetimes at levels of between (a) £1 million and £1.2 million, (b) £1.2 million and £1.4 million, (c) £1.4 million and £1.6 million, (d) £1.6 million and £1.8 million, (e) £1.8 million and £2 million and (f) over £2 million in the fiscal years (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15, (iii) 2015-16 and (iv) 2016-17;

Sajid Javid: Records are not held that enable the history of contributions made towards separate private pension schemes to be estimated over an individual's lifetime, or for the cumulative amount of tax relief thereon to be estimated. I therefore regret that the information requested with regard to relief on contributions is not available in respect of individuals with pension entitlements to a second private pension scheme in addition to their principal private scheme.

Taxation: Electronic Cigarettes

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on taxation on e-cigarettes; what representations he has received on their classification for taxation purposes; and if he will make a statement on the future taxation of such products.

Sajid Javid: E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco, and are therefore not liable to tobacco products duty; however, they are liable to VAT. The Government keep all taxes under review, and decisions on taxation are a matter for the Chancellor as part of the Budget.
	Treasury Ministers and officials receive and consider a wide variety of representations from organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Taxation: Environment Protection

Tim Yeo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the Carbon Price Floor on the competitiveness of UK business.

Sajid Javid: The carbon price floor establishes a minimum carbon price, which sends an early and credible signal to drive investment in low-carbon electricity generation and support the UK's long-term energy security.
	For most businesses, direct energy costs are a relatively small proportion of total costs. In 2011, purchases of energy and water accounted for less than 3% of total costs for UK manufacturing. In 2013 the carbon price floor will add around 2% to the average business electricity bill. However over the longer term, consumers stand to benefit from cleaner, cheaper and more reliable sources of low-carbon energy as a result of the Government's policies.
	The Government recognise the cumulative impact of energy and climate change polices on the most energy intensive industries. Autumn statement 2011 announced a package of measures, worth £250 million over the spending review, to help these businesses adjust to the low-carbon transformation while remaining competitive. The Budget announced that energy-intensive industries will continue to receive support in 2015-16.
	Energy-intensives will also benefit from relief from the costs of electricity market reform, subject to state aid; an exemption from the climate change levy (CCL) for metallurgical and mineralogical processes; and an increase in CCL relief to 90% on electricity for most energy-intensive businesses who are part of Climate Change Agreements UK businesses will also benefit from a further reduction in corporation tax to 20% by 2015 and the introduction of a £2,000 per year employment allowance for businesses and charities from April 2014 to reduce their employment and NICs bill.

Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many officials in his (a) Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies travelled on (i) domestic and (ii) international flights in each of the last five years; in which class categories; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest airfare charges in each such year;
	(2)  how many officials in his (a) Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies stayed in hotels in (i) the UK and (ii) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year;
	(3)  how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible claimed reimbursements for working lunches and official entertainment in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each such year.

Sajid Javid: The cost of complying with your requests would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold, in locating retrieving and extracting the information.
	However there are publications already available which provide some of the information within these requests and they can be found on HM Treasury website within the following link:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about_departmental_index.htm

Visits Abroad

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's budget was for overseas travel for officials and Ministers in 2012-13.

Sajid Javid: The Department does not have a budget specifically for overseas travel. However the Department does have a travel and subsistence budget which includes all travel and associated costs.
	Following are the budgeted figures for travel and subsistence over the past four years.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2012-13 1,476,145 
			 2011-12 1,846,570 
			 2010-11 2,102,984 
			 2009-10 4,579,066

Welfare Tax Credits: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) Ynys Mon, (b) Gwynedd, (c) Conwy, (d) Denbighshire, (e) Flintshire and (f) Wrexham local authority areas are claiming (i) working family tax credit and childcare tax credit change in circumstance income disregards, (ii) childcare tax credit first income threshold, (iii) childcare tax credit second income threshold, (iv) childcare tax credit baby element, (v) working family tax credit 30 hour element, (vi) working family tax credit basic element, (vii) working family tax credit single parent and couple element, (viii) working family tax credit 50-plus element and (ix) working family tax credit minimum hours for couples.

Sajid Javid: Working family tax credit was abolished in March 2003 and replaced by the current child and working tax credit system.
	(i) Final tax credit entitlement for a given year is based on income in that year if that is: more than £2,500 lower than the income in the previous year; or exceeds it by more than £5,000. A year on year income fall of less than £2,500; or increase of less than £5,000 is disregarded in calculating the current years’ final tax credit entitlement, and the previous years’ income is used.
	(ii-iii) The tax credit income thresholds cannot be claimed, they represent the point at which a families award begins to be tapered away. There are two income thresholds in tax credits.
	Any family eligible for any element of working tax credit (WTC) can receive their full entitlement until their annual household income reaches £6,420 p.a. After this point, their tax credit entitlement is tapered away at a rate of 41 pence for each additional £1 of income beyond the threshold.
	Any family eligible for child tax credit (CTC) only, can receive their full entitlement until their annual household income reaches £15,910 p.a. After this point, their tax credit entitlement is tapered away at a rate of 41 pence for each additional £1 of income beyond the threshold.
	(v-vii) The table below shows the number of families in the requested regions benefitting from the WTC basic element, WTC lone parent or couple element, and the WTC 30 hour element. These figures are based on HMRC's Tax Credits National Statistics publication for December 2012. Further statistics and information can be found here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/personal-tax-credits.htm#1
	
		
			 Number of families benefitting from certain elements of WTC 
			 Thousands 
			  (vi) WTC Basic element (vii) WTC lone parent or couple element(1) (v) WTC 30 hour element 
			 Ynys Mon Isle of Anglesey 3.9 3.4 2.9 
			 Gwynedd Gwynedd 7.1 6.0 5.4 
			 Conwy Conwy 6.8 5.8 4.9 
			 Sir Ddinbych Denbighshire 5.6 4.9 4.1 
		
	
	
		
			 Sir y Fflint Flintshire 8.1 7.0 6.1 
			 Wrecsam Wrexham 7.6 6.7 5.6 
			 (1) The numbers in this column include people who receive either the lone parent, or the couple's element. 
		
	
	(iv, viii) The baby element of child tax credit, and the 50+ return to work element of working tax credit were abolished in April 2011 and April 2012 respectively; therefore there are no current recipients. These changes were part of a package of measures reaffirming the government's commitment to making work pay. Since 2010, the government have announced successive increases in the personal allowance totalling £3,525, representing a rise of more than 50% in just four years. These changes will benefit 25.4 million individuals and provide a real terms gain of £507 to most basic rate taxpayers in 2013-14. Around 2.7 million individuals will be taken out of income tax all together by April 2014.
	(ix) The hour's rules for couples claiming working tax credit changed in April 2012. A couple that is responsible for a child or young person must work at least 24 hours between them, and one adult must be working at least 16 hours. If the couple is not responsible for a child one adult must be over 25 years old and working at least 30 hours a week.
	Recent figures have shown that nearly three quarters of families affected by the April 2012 change to the WTC hours rule have since reported an increase in hours worked. These data are evidence that difficult welfare reform can combine savings for the taxpayer with better incentives for people who want to work.